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A recent post by Adam Grant on one of the most underrated skills being able to receive tough love inspired this episode. A majority of people struggle to receive constructive criticism from others. In this episode I explore why that is and why we take it so personally. On the surface most people say they don't mind the unpleasant truths but I share a way to know whether that is actually true for you or not. If you are committed to growing, improving then you can't be surrounded by people who feed you comforting lies and your actions dictate whether people will tell you the hard truths or not. Want to unpack a topic that is creating mental clutter for you? Send me a DM or check out my website: www.unpackingmyself.com
In a world filled with requests, many of us are struggling to stay afloat. Even if you're not a people-pleaser, the desire to maintain a positive reputation can make it hard to turn others down. In this episode, Adam explores the art and science of delivering an effective “no.” He highlights strategies for setting boundaries with others to create space for yourself—and healthier relationships with those around you. Want to help shape TED's shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this deeply moving and insight-rich episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, host Chris Schembra welcomes Sara Hardwick, the Community Relationship Strategist at the Gift•ology Group and steward of the late John Ruhlin's enduring legacy. What begins as a conversation about gifting quickly unfolds into a masterclass in human connection, spiritual resilience, and the transformative power of long-game generosity.Sara shares her unexpected journey into this world of relational marketing—how a nudge from her college roommate and a single Google search led her to John's work, and how her bold outreach blossomed into a mentorship, a career, and a calling. Chris and Sara reflect on how the principles of Beyond Gift•ology are not just business strategies—they're spiritual frameworks for living well, loving deeply, and leading with purpose.The episode pays tribute to John Ruhlin, a father, husband, and business visionary who turned gifting into an art form and relationship-building into an enterprise. John passed away in 2024, but his wisdom—"Relationships can take you places marketing can't"—lives on in the systems, stories, and spirit that Sara now helps shepherd to the world.Together, Chris and Sara unpack practical strategies from Beyond Gift•ology: how to build a business based on Return on Relationship (ROR), how to gift without branding or ego, and how to become what Adam Grant calls a “strategic giver”—someone who gives generously and wisely without burning out.They explore the nuances between swag and soul, between a gift that gathers dust and a gift that transforms a relationship, and between a one-off act of kindness and a lifestyle of sustained generosity. Sara also speaks vulnerably about her faith journey, how her relationship with God guides her every decision, and how grief, gratitude, and giving are all connected.Chris draws parallels between his own work at the dinner table and John's commitment to elevating relationships through thoughtful gestures. They explore how tiny, consistent acts—handwritten notes, engraved knives, warm introductions—create ripple effects that build not just revenue, but legacy.Whether you're a founder, a sales leader, a service-based professional, or simply someone who wants to live more intentionally in your relationships, this episode offers a generous mix of soul and strategy. It's a reminder that business doesn't have to be cold, marketing doesn't have to be manipulative, and giving—when done well—can be your greatest competitive edge.What You'll Hear in This Episode➤ A Powerful Opening TributeChris opens with a personal story of how a 20-minute call with John Ruhlin in 2017 changed his life. That call turned into a two-and-a-half-hour conversation, a lasting mentorship, and the permission to go “all-in” on human connection.➤ Sara's Origin Story: From College Gifting Club to Gift•ology LeaderYou'll hear how Sara's best friend Chloe encouraged her to Google “gift giving company”—a search that led to John Ruhlin's work and, eventually, to Sara founding the internet's largest gifting community while still in college.➤ The Long Game of Generosity: ROR > ROISara and Chris dive deep into the difference between Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Relationships (ROR). Sara explains why short-term thinking in business keeps us stuck—and how giving first, without expecting anything in return, can actually become your greatest long-term growth engine.➤ Gifting as Strategy, Not SwagSara outlines the key rules of strategic gifting:It's not about you—it's about the recipient. No logos, ever. Personalize for their life, not your brand. Love on the inner circle—spouses, kids, even the family dog. Focus on “practical luxuries” that create 5,475+ moments of thoughtfulness over time.➤ The Rise of the Rich Relationship SocietySara introduces the R.I.C.H. framework:Reciprocal Influential Connected HumbleShe shares how this system is designed to help entrepreneurs and service-based professionals build referral-based businesses rooted in trust, warmth, and mutual growth.➤ Jesus, Dinner Parties, and the Divine Power of a KnifeIn one of the most personal moments, Sara credits her faith—and specifically, her renewed relationship with Jesus—as the compass guiding her work. They connect the dots between Jesus' Last Supper, dinner tables as sacred community spaces, and how something as simple as a personalized kitchen knife can become a legacy of love.➤ Beyond the Business Tactic: Legacy as the Ultimate ROIThe episode closes with a powerful reminder: while gifting is a strategy, true generosity is a posture of the heart. Sara shares that she's not just playing for business success—she's playing for eternity. Key TakeawaysGenerosity isn't a transaction—it's a transformation. Strategic gifting isn't about getting something back immediately. It's about creating meaningful moments that compound over time.Your swag isn't a gift—it's a billboard. The most powerful gifts are useful, personal, and logo-free.Business is human-to-human. In a world overrun with AI, algorithms, and advertising, it's the relationships built at your dinner table—not your Instagram grid—that truly move the needle.Legacy is built in the little things. A handwritten note. A kitchen knife. A prayer. A hug. These are the moments people remember. Links & ResourcesBeyond Gift•ology by John Ruhlin – Buy the bookLearn more about the Rich Relationship Society – giftologygroup.comContact Sara Hardwick – sara@giftologygroup.comConnect with Sara on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/sarahardwickGiftology (Original Book) – Buy here
This week, organizational psychologist and Glassdoor's Chief Worklife Expert, Adam Grant, joins us to discuss why constant change is exhausting today's workforce. Grant offers practical resilience strategies, including mental time travel techniques and rejecting the "three Ps" of personalization, pervasiveness, and permanence. From millennials facing their "fourth once-in-a-lifetime recession" to the surprising research showing career benefits of tough economic starts, we explore how both managers and employees can navigate workplace uncertainty without burning out. Make sure and join Adam Grant for his upcoming "HotSeat" event on May 27th. Only on the Glassdoor App! Special Guest: Adam Grant Hosts: Matt Sunbulli https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunbulli/ https://www.firstdraft.vc Aaron Calafato Listen to Aaron's 7 Minute Stories Podcast Follow Aaron's Viral Storytelling on YouTube Leah Ova Follow Leah on TikTok Editorial: Matt Sunbulli Brooks Borden Ken Wendt Aaron Calafato Senior Audio Engineer: Ken Wendt Research: Zaid Safe Matt Sunbulli Aaron Calafato
What does it mean to live a good life? Is it about happiness, health, friendship, love, or meaning? What about work, wealth, purpose, service, or something else? Can you live a good life even when things are hard? These are the questions and topics we explore every week in conversation with leading voices from health, science, art, industry, mindset, and culture, like Brené Brown, Matthew McConaughey, Mel Robbins, Alex, Elle, Adam Grant, Elizabeth Gilbert, Yung Pueblo, Maya Shankar, Mitch Albom, Glennon Doyle & hundreds more. The New York Times says, "the show's holistic approach to fulfillment is bound to resonate." Listen now! Hosted on Acast. Visit GoodLifeProject.com to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Syreeta shares insights from her moving new book, Bigger than the Moon, exploring her personal journey as a working parent of a neurodivergent child and how that experience has deeply shaped her leadership approach. Syreeta reflects on the transformative impact of parenting on her understanding of patience, team dynamics and inclusive leadership. She offers practical advice for HR professionals on supporting neurodiversity in the workplace, including the importance of recognising hidden disabilities and avoiding unintended exclusion through performance or engagement practices. Syreeta also explores what courageous leadership looks like in action, how to enable brave conversations, build inclusive cultures and plan for lasting, sustainable change. This episode is a must listen for HR Leaders looking to lead with empathy, resilience and impact. This episode is sponsored by Redgrave Today's episode is brought to you by Redgrave, a leading executive search, interim and leadership advisory firm supporting business owners, investors and leaders. Redgrave specialises in identifying and securing senior leaders for businesses across diverse industries, whether it's CEOs, board members or functional leadership roles. They combine deep market experience with a bespoke, relationship-driven approach, ensuring that every search delivers impact. And when it comes to People & Culture leadership, they know just how critical the right HR and People leaders are to shaping business success. Redgrave's People & Culture Practice partners with organisations to find transformative CHROs, CPOs, and senior HR leaders who create the enviroments where businesses, and people, thrive. Sustainability is also rising on the HR agenda, responsibility but as a compelling element of an orgnaisation's employee value proposition and operations. Redgrave supports clients in finding leaders who can embed responsible practices into a firm's business strategy and align sustainably with performance. Whether it's a permanent hire or technical interim support, they help HR functions drive meaningful, measurable change. If you're looking for exceptional leadeship that makes a difference, visit Redgrave Search to find our more. Join our free HR Changemakers community You'll be the first to hear about each podcast episode, about our events, and receive free bonus resources that enhance your influence and impact. Join us here: https://www.upliftingpeople.com/pages/how-hr-leaders-change-the-world And join us on LinkedIn: Uplifting People LinkedIn Are you looking for your next great read that inspires you and helps your work? Each month, we recommend a book that challenges, motivates and uplifts, every pick is selected to speark meaningful conversations and personal growth. Our May book of the month is Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant. A guide to unlocking your growth by challenging the myth of innate ta;ent - showing that success is less about natural ability abd more about how well you can learn and who you become. We chose it because its and inspiring reminder that anyone can grow and succeed. Head to Uplifting People to grab a copy, and we hope you enjoy this month's Uplifting Book! Referenced Resources: Aubilities
In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Mark Murphy discuss:The challenges and nuances of hiring the right talent for law firmsThe critical distinction between attitude and skills in recruitmentHow leadership traits can hinder effective hiring decisionsPractical strategies for improving the legal hiring and interview process Key Takeaways:Eighty-nine percent of new hires fail due to attitude issues like entitlement or resistance to feedback, not because of technical skill gaps, showing why firms must prioritize attitude in hiring.Top-performing teams rely on five key roles—director, trailblazer, harmonizer, achiever, and stabilizer—each providing distinct behavioral strengths that drive success.Interviewers can quickly spot problem solvers by asking about a past mistake and seeing if the candidate naturally explains how they resolved it without prompting.High performers use first-person and past-tense language when describing real experiences, while weaker candidates rely on vague, hypothetical answers using second-person phrasing. "I always tell leaders this: ironically, the better the leader you are, often the worse hirer you are, because you have to dial down your natural optimism and desire to see everybody be great." — Mark Murphy Unlock the secrets of the industry's top rainmakers with Be That Lawyer: 101 Top Rainmakers' Secrets to Growing a Successful Law Practice. Grab your ultimate guide to building a thriving law firm now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F78HXJHT Thank you to our Sponsors!Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/ Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let's make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/ Episode References: Think Again by Adam Grant: https://www.amazon.com/Think-Again-Power-Knowing-What/dp/1984878107 About Mark Murphy: Mark Murphy is a New York Times bestselling author whose groundbreaking book Hiring for Attitude has transformed the way companies hire and build high-performing teams. His pioneering research revealed that nearly half of new hires fail within 18 months — and a staggering 89% of those failures result from attitude, not a lack of skills. His insights have reshaped hiring strategies for Fortune 500 companies, fast-growing startups, and government agencies worldwide. Connect with Mark Murphy: Website: https://www.leadershipiq.com/Book: Hiring for Attitude: https://www.amazon.com/Hiring-Attitude-Revolutionary-Recruiting-Tremendous/dp/1259860906LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markamurphy/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadership-iq/ Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
Combining perspectives and reflecting from their market-wide viewpoint, Naomi and Kate discuss the role of HR leaders in sustainability, exploring the connections and the gaps between the two professions. Reflecting on how people and sustainability roles are evolving, they discuss how AI will influence in the future and how HR professionals can use their commercial understanding to drive positive impact for people and planet. Naomi and Kate encourage you to take an active role in shaping and delivering your company's sustainability strategy, providing practical ideas on how, and highlight the exciting career opportunities ahead in leadership for a sustainable future. References – Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) | This episode is sponsored by Redgrave Today's episode is brought to you by Redgrave, a leading executive search, interim, and leadership advisory firm supporting business owners, investors, and leaders. Redgrave specialises in identifying and securing senior leaders for businesses across diverse industries, whether it's CEOs, board members, or functional leadership roles. They combine deep market expertise with a bespoke, relationship-driven approach, ensuring that every search delivers impact. And when it comes to People & Culture leadership, they know just how critical the right HR and People leaders are to shaping business success. Redgrave's People & Culture Practice partners with organisations to find transformative CHROs, CPOs, and senior HR leaders who create the environments where businesses, and people, thrive. Sustainability is also rising on the HR agenda, responsibility, but as a compelling element of an organisation's employee value proposition and operations. Redgrave supports clients in finding leaders who can embed responsible practices into a firm's business strategy and align sustainability with performance. Whether it's a permanent hire or technical interim support, they help HR functions drive meaningful, measurable change. If you're looking for exceptional leadership that makes a difference, visit Redgrave Search to find out more.
He is the opposite of Elon Musk and "Founder Mode" being promoted by some of the loudest voices in business today. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks about human-centered leadership. It's what Lone Rock Leadership Co-Founder Russ Hill says is the core of the 3rd Leader approach advocated in the Lead In 30 course. Staya Nadella transformed Microsoft from a competitive, siloed culture into a collaborative powerhouse that grew from $300 billion to $3 trillion in market value.Link to full interview between Adam Grant and Satya Nadella: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0E8eUQ5KXg• Contrasting leadership styles: "founder mode" (directive, demanding) vs. "third leader" (participatory, human-centered)• Microsoft's extraordinary growth under Nadella: 10x market cap, over 1,000% stock price increase• The "Model, Coach, Care" management framework that develops great managers• How psychological safety and vulnerability create better business outcomes• Growth mindset as a core cultural principle: transitioning from "know-it-alls" to "learn-it-alls" • The power of continuous learning through daily human interactions• Leadership that values both high performance and human dignityShare this episode with a colleague, your team or a friend. Tap on the share button and text the link.--Get weekly leadership tips delivered to your email inbox:Subscribe to our leadership email newsletterhttps://www.leadin30.com/newsletterConnect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company! --About the podcast:The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!
What makes an HR conference truly exceptional? According to veteran attendee Jackye Clayton, it's the willingness to tackle tough issues while maintaining a human-centered approach - precisely what sets Workhuman Live apart from the crowd.In this conversation with HRchat host Bill Banham, Jackye shares her enthusiasm for the upcoming Workhuman Live 2025 in Colorado. As a frequent attendee who ranks it among her top five HR conferences, Clayton offers unique insights into what makes this event special. Unlike conferences that create an artificial bubble of positivity, WorkHuman has consistently addressed challenging social movements like Me Too and responded to societal traumas such as the George Floyd murder. This authenticity reflects the event's commitment to making workplace practices genuinely human-centric.The 2025 lineup promises exceptional content from thought leaders across critical areas. Adam Grant will explore psychological safety and hidden potential—essential for organizations looking to maximize internal talent development. Kelly Jones and Carrie Driver tackle the timely topic of navigating uncertainty with clarity, while Trevor Noah brings his unique global perspective to a discussion about AI and social responsibility. This blend of practical frameworks, inspiring ideas, and real-world applications creates an unmatched learning opportunity for HR professionals, talent executives, and business leaders who believe in the power of human-centered workplaces.Whether you're focused on talent management, recognition programs, or inclusive leadership, WorkHuman Live offers insights that bridge theory and practice. Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events
Networking is an integral part of our lives, both professional and personal. I welcome back Nancie McDonnell Ruder, an extraordinary business woman from the Warrior community, to discuss the skills of networking and connecting with others. We discuss how we can cultivate the best mindset and what tactical tips, inspiration and perspectives can we learn that will help us to connect and network better. Nancie McDonnell Ruder is an executive coach, leadership advisor and marketing consultant with decades of experience in marketing strategy, training, branding, and consumer research. She has a strong track record of driving accelerated growth for organizations by aligning their marketing strategies closely with customer expectations and preferences. Nancie began her professional career with the Leo Burnett Company in Chicago, Illinois, where she served clients such as Procter & Gamble, Eli Lilly and The Gap, and spearheaded global new business efforts, resulting in 14 cross market new business wins. Since launching Noetic Consultants in 2002, Nancie has provided strategic guidance to clients large and small, including: 7-Eleven, Discovery Channel, Georgetown University, NIKE, Vail Resorts, Samsung Electronics, SC Johnson, Mayo Clinic, and the Walt Disney Company. She is the creator of the Noetic Brand Health Diagnostic™ and the Noetic Art & Science Assessment™. In addition to her consulting work, Nancie is a respected author and sought-after speaker in the marketing and leadership space. Her engaging presentations draw from her extensive experience, providing actionable takeaways that help organizations and individuals thrive in today's competitive business landscape.(3:42) Why did we decide to partner and discuss networking? (6:05) The word “networking”, how do we define it? (12:40) How can we integrate networking into our personal and professional lives? (14:37) Why networking matters? What are some of the barriers we experience related to networking? (18:32) What are some of the fears we experience when we don't exercise our “networking muscles” regularly? (20:55) Nancie discusses the many ways we can use networking in our lives. (23:05) We talk about the concept of “Give and Take” from Adam Grant. (28:30) We discuss concepts of “helping others to succeed first”, how we are “you're only as good as your network” and “you can't get there alone and you don't want to”. (32:20) Thinking of interactions with others as an “ask, offer and acknowledge”. (35:54) Where can someone begin on the path to successful networking? How can we learn good habits from the beginning? (45:08) Tactical things you can do before networking with others. (48:26) Do's and Don'ts when networking (55:25) Let's wrap up the highlights of our conversation around being connected and networking. (56:47) We ask the community to take away an important point from our conversation.Connect with Nancie McDonnell Ruder https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancieatnoetic/ https://noetic.io/ Subscribe: Warriors At Work Podcasts Website: https://jeaniecoomber.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/986666321719033/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanie_coomber/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeanie_coomber LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanie-coomber-90973b4/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbMZ2HyNNyPoeCSqKClBC_w
Reflecting on his journey in healthcare, Magnus explains how GSK's Purpose shapes HR strategy, ensuring talent, leadership, and culture decisions are grounded in patient impact. Magnus explores the future of work, highlighting the growing importance of skills as the new currency of the workforce. He discusses HR's role in helping people build and apply future-ready capabilities, particularly in fast-changing scientific environments. He also stresses the need to protect entry-level roles and ensure inclusive career development, linking this to broader societal responsibilities. Magnus urges HR leaders to embrace the global skills challenge and extend their influence beyond the workplace - unlocking the full potential of HR to shape a more inclusive, future-ready world. This episode is sponsored by Redgrave Today's episode is brought to you by Redgrave, a leading executive search, interim, and leadership advisory firm supporting business owners, investors, and leaders. Redgrave specialises in identifying and securing senior leaders for businesses across diverse industries, whether it's CEOs, board members, or functional leadership roles. They combine deep market expertise with a bespoke, relationship-driven approach, ensuring that every search delivers impact. And when it comes to People & Culture leadership, they know just how critical the right HR and People leaders are to shaping business success. Redgrave's People & Culture Practice partners with organisations to find transformative CHROs, CPOs, and senior HR leaders who create the environments where businesses, and people, thrive. Sustainability is also rising on the HR agenda, responsibility, but as a compelling element of an organisation's employee value proposition and operations. Redgrave supports clients in finding leaders who can embed responsible practices into a firm's business strategy and align sustainability with performance. Whether it's a permanent hire or technical interim support, they help HR functions drive meaningful, measurable change. If you're looking for exceptional leadership that makes a difference, visit Redgrave Search to find out more.
John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and ran his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Since 2012, John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where he has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, including Peter Diamandis, Adam Grant, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Marie Forleo. John is also the Co-founder of Rise25, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners. They help their clients generate ROI through their done-for-you podcast service. In this episode… Many business owners set ambitious goals but struggle to achieve consistent results. Often, the missing ingredient isn't motivation — it's systems. Without clear processes and the right tools, even the most driven professionals can find themselves overwhelmed, misaligned, or spinning their wheels. John Corcoran tackles this issue head-on by emphasizing the importance of developing repeatable systems to build discipline and scale sustainably. Drawing inspiration from Atomic Habits by James Clear, John shares how he's applied simple, effective strategies to automate key business functions — such as using ActiveCampaign to build educational email sequences that nurture leads automatically. He also highlights the value of documenting every company process, crediting Adi Klevit of Business Success Consulting Group for helping companies create SOPs that enable smooth delegation and operational resilience. Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as Chad Franzen interviews John Corcoran, Co-founder of Rise25, about the systems, habits, and relationships that support business growth. John discusses how to build stronger habits, the value of marketing automation, the role of process documentation, and the growing need for genuine human interaction in the AI era.
The blog postNearly 30 years ago, I had my first real encounter with what not to do as a leader. I was working in a General Motors factory where the culture was one of daily disrespect. Leaders--if you could call them that--were quick to belittle, yell, scream (with spittle flying) at employees on the floor. The lesson I learned wasn't the one they thought they were teaching.This behavior wasn't "tough love" or "just how things are done in manufacturing." It was toxic. And it didn't lead to improved results. It didn't drive engagement. It didn't foster continuous improvement. It certainly didn't build trust. At best, that type of leadership creates short-term compliance. At worst, it drives costly mistakes, disengagement, and deep cultural scars.It was management by intimidation--and it failed. Repeatedly.Fast forward to today, and the evidence is no longer just anecdotal. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant recently wrote in The New York Times:"The evidence is clear: Leadership by intimidation and insult is a bad strategy. Belittling people doesn't boost their productivity; it diminishes it. Disrespect doesn't just demotivate. It also disrupts focus, causing costly mistakes [including in operating rooms]."Read the full article (free link)
This episode of the Insight Out podcast features part 2 of my in-depth discussion with Brenden Kumarasamy, a renowned communication expert and the founder of MasterTalk. a coaching business dedicated to helping executives and business owners become top 1% communicators in their industries. In Part 2 of our conversation, we dive into the transformative power of empathy in public speaking. Brendan shares a golden nugget: picture yourself talking to a younger you, someone who's walked in your shoes and felt your fears. That's the secret sauce to forging a real connection with your listeners. And if you've ever been mesmerized by Elon Musk's ability to cast a vision that captivates the globe, we've got the scoop on his communication style, the good, the quirky, and how his fame plays into his storytelling prowess. We don't stop there! Brendan and I dissect TED Talks, highlighting the thin line between intellectually stimulating and snooze-inducing. We look at how thought leaders like Yuval Noah Harari and Adam Grant master the art of making brainy topics relatable and downright captivating. Plus, we tackle the underestimated role of energy in public speaking – that authentic zest that can magnetize your audience or leave them checking their watches. And let's not forget the importance of tailoring your message. Knowing your audience is like having a secret map to their hearts and minds, turning a solid talk into an experience they'll carry with them. This episode is brimming with wisdom that could revolutionize your communication game. So, If you're itching to learn how to engage and move your audience, whether you're a pro at the podium or just stepping into the spotlight, this episode is your golden ticket! In this episode, you will learn the following: Importance of empathy in public speaking Approach to studying TED Talks Communicating complex ideas in a compelling and relatable manner Significance of energy in public speaking Impactful communication and effective public speaking In This Episode: (06:45) Criteria for selecting TED talks (07:40) Effective communication in TED talks (10:49) Effective storytelling and communication (14:44) Common mistakes in public speaking (19:50) Gary Vaynerchuk's speaking style (23:00) GaryVee's Evolution as a Speaker (25:00) Alex Hermosa's Rise to Fame (31:01) Tony Robbins' Mastery of Storytelling (33:15) Effective Speaker Study Technique Notable Quotes: [18:38] “If you don't have the luxury to have a conversation with your audience, study them. Learn what is most important to them, and what they going to want. And then give them what they want.”- Billy [25:33] “Always communicate the truth that you believe in, even if other people might not agree with you”-Brenden [28:44] "Empathy is not about speaking to the person you are today but speaking to the person you used to be—the person who was stuck, who didn't know who they wanted to be, who didn't know how to make money, who was sick or was making a lot of mistakes." -Brenden Resources and Links Brenden Kumarasamy https://www.instagram.com/masteryourtalk/ https://www.facebook.com/mastertalkyt/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendenkumarasamy/ https://twitter.com/masteryourtalks https://www.youtube.com/c/MasterTalks Billy Samoa https://www.instagram.com/billysamoa/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/billysamoa/ https://www.youtube.com/@BillySamoa Mentioned Yuval Noah Harari's TED Talk Brené Brown's TED Talk Adam Grant's TED Talks Gary Vaynerchuk's TED Talks Alex Harmozi Lewis Howes Tony Robbins This is an encore episode and was originally published on May 17, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, Jake and Damian explore how to handle negative people—at work, at home, and even in your own mind. You'll hear powerful stories from guests like James Blunt, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Adam Grant, and Adrian Newey.They cover:Why negativity spreads and how to protect your mindsetThe difference between destructive critics and helpful truth-tellersPractical ways to stop letting others control your energyHow to know when to quit, walk away, or push backIf you've ever felt drained by someone, or doubted yourself because of criticism - this episode will help you reset your focus and take back control.Listen to the episodes mentioned:James Blunt: https://pod.fo/e/27672dJessica Ennis-Hill: https://pod.fo/e/221118Adam Grant: https://pod.fo/e/1546d4Adrian Newey: https://pod.fo/e/267f99
On this Live Greatly podcast episode, Kristel Bauer sits down with Paula Davis, author of Lead Well: 5 Mindsets to Engage, Retain, and Inspire Your Team. Paula left her law practice after experiencing burnout and earned a master's degree in applied positive psychology. She is now the Founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute. Kristel and Paula discuss mindsets to set you and your team up for well-being and success. Tune in now! Key Takeaways From This Episode: A look into Paula's book Lead Well: 5 Mindsets to Engage, Retain, and Inspire Your Team A look into what sticky recognition is and why it is important Tips to build resilience in the workplace A look into thank you plus The importance of mattering at work About Paula Davis: Paula Davis JD, MAPP, is the Founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute. For 15 years, she has been a trusted advisor to leaders in organizations of all sizes helping them to make work better. Paula is a globally recognized expert on the effects of workplace stress, burnout prevention, workplace well-being, and building resilience for individuals and teams. Paula left her law practice after seven years and earned a master's degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her post-graduate training, Paula was selected to be part of the University of Pennsylvania faculty teaching and training resilience skills to soldiers as part of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program. The Penn team trained resilience skills to more than 40,000 soldiers and their family members. Paula is the author of Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being & Resilience, which is about burnout prevention using a teams-based approach. Beating Burnout at Work was nominated for best new book by the Next Big Idea Club, which is curated by Adam Grant, Susan Cain, Malcom Gladwell, and Daniel Pink. Paula has shared her expertise at educational institutions such as Harvard Law School, Wharton School Executive Education, and Princeton. She is a two-time recipient of the distinguished teaching award from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She has been featured in and on The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post and many other media outlets. Paula is also a contributor to Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today. Connect with Paula: Order Lead Well: 5 Mindsets to Engage, Retain, and Inspire Your Team: https://www.pennpress.org/9781613631898/lead-well/ Website: https://stressandresilience.com/burnout-book/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauladavislaack/ Instegram: https://www.instagram.com/pauladavisspeaker/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Paula-Davis/61565650520592/ About the Host of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer: Kristel Bauer is a corporate wellness and performance expert, keynote speaker and TEDx speaker supporting organizations and individuals on their journeys for more happiness and success. She is the author of Work-Life Tango: Finding Happiness, Harmony, and Peak Performance Wherever You Work (John Murray Business November 19, 2024). With Kristel's healthcare background, she provides data driven actionable strategies to leverage happiness and high-power habits to drive growth mindsets, peak performance, profitability, well-being and a culture of excellence. Kristel's keynotes provide insights to “Live Greatly” while promoting leadership development and team building. Kristel is the creator and host of her global top self-improvement podcast, Live Greatly. She is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur, and she is an influencer in the business and wellness space having been recognized as a Top 10 Social Media Influencer of 2021 in Forbes. As an Integrative Medicine Fellow & Physician Assistant having practiced clinically in Integrative Psychiatry, Kristel has a unique perspective into attaining a mindset for more happiness and success. Kristel has presented to groups from the American Gas Association, Bank of America, bp, Commercial Metals Company, General Mills, Northwestern University, Santander Bank and many more. Kristel has been featured in Forbes, Forest & Bluff Magazine, Authority Magazine & Podcast Magazine and she has appeared on ABC 7 Chicago, WGN Daytime Chicago, Fox 4's WDAF-TV's Great Day KC, and Ticker News. Kristel lives in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area and she can be booked for speaking engagements worldwide. To Book Kristel as a speaker for your next event, click here. Website: www.livegreatly.co Follow Kristel Bauer on: Instagram: @livegreatly_co LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer Twitter: @livegreatly_co Facebook: @livegreatly.co Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer To Watch Kristel Bauer's TEDx talk of Redefining Work/Life Balance in a COVID-19 World click here. Click HERE to check out Kristel's corporate wellness and leadership blog Click HERE to check out Kristel's Travel and Wellness Blog Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions. Always consult your physician before starting any supplements or new lifestyle programs. All information, views and statements shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not medical advice or treatment recommendations. They have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. Opinions of guests are their own and Kristel Bauer & this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. Neither Kristel Bauer nor this podcast takes responsibility for possible health consequences of a person or persons following the information in this educational content. Always consult your physician for recommendations specific to you.
If you've ever felt stuck on your health, career, or relationship goals but struggle to ask for help, this episode is for you. / Inspired by Hidden Potential by Adam Grant, we're exploring the concept of “scaffolding” — a temporary support system that helps you reach heights you couldn't on your own. / I'll show you how to reframe needing help as a sign of strength and self-awareness, not weakness or failure. / You'll learn how to identify where you're stuck, what kind of support you need, and how to build scaffolding that boosts not just your skills, but your belief in what's possible. / If you've been spinning your wheels, this mindset shift might be just what you need to finally make progress.Tune in each week for practical, relatable advice that helps you feel your best and unlock your full potential. If you're ready to prioritize your health and level up every area of your life, you'll find the tools, insights, and inspiration right here. Buy Esther's Book: To Your Health - https://a.co/d/iDG68qUFollow Esther on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@estheravantFollow Esther on IG - https://www.instagram.com/esther.avantLearn more about booking Esther to speak: https://www.estheravant.comLearn more about working with Esther: https://www.madebymecoaching.com/services
BEST OF Are the meetings you lead not actually getting enough done? Are you worried that participants are leaving them feeling annoyed? If so, then this episode is for you. Professor Steven Rogelberg is an organisational psychologist, an award-winning author and the world’s leading expert on workplace meetings. He is an award-winning teacher with over 200 publications and has been cited well-over 12,000 times in the academic literature. Steven’s keynotes on meetings span the globe and occur at the world’s leading organisations such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Pfizer, Cisco, Bank of America, PayPal, The United Nations, and many more. His book, The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance has been on over 25 “best of” lists including being recognized by the Washington Post as the #1 leadership book to watch for. To top it off, Adam Grant has called Steven the “world’s leading expert on how to fix meetings”. In this episode Steven shares: How to figure out if something should actually be a meeting and who needs to be invited to it The common traits that make an effective meeting leader and the mistakes we make that can derail a meeting Some unusual and unique techniques you can use to liven up your meetings The role of AI in meetings and what you should and shouldn’t use it for What you need to do before and after a meeting to ensure maximum success Key Quotes: “One of the best predictors of the mood of a meeting is the mood of the leader coming into the meeting.” “We act with intentionality all the time when we're meeting with important stakeholders, but we don’t act with intentionality when it comes to meeting with our peers.” “The characteristic of really good meeting leaders is they understand that meetings need an ending.” Connect with Steven via his website and linkedin. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 2559: Shelby Forsythia explores the often-overlooked transformation of friendships after grief, revealing that while some relationships fade, others deepen in unexpected, soul-affirming ways. Her reflection offers a gentle yet profound reminder that loss reshapes our social world, and sometimes, it brings surprising clarity about who truly sees us. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://shelbyforsythia.medium.com/yes-you-lose-friends-after-loss-but-something-else-happens-too-274de4e3a2e6 Quotes to ponder: "People disappear when you're grieving. They drop off the map. They ghost, go quiet, or fumble their way out of your life." "But after the loss, people also show up. People you didn't expect to appear suddenly appear." "These aren't replacements for the people who left. They're not substitutes. They are additions, and enhancements, and recalibrations." Episode references: Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant: https://optionb.org/book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Still waiting to feel “ready” before you start pitching the guests or sponsors you really want?In this episode, HuffPost contributor and media expert Alice Draper is back to show you the exact process she uses to turn rejection into a measurable growth strategy for your podcast. You'll learn how to build your “rejection muscle,” set rejection goals that lead to more yeses, and use data from ignored or declined pitches to refine your messaging and land bigger and better opportunities.So if you've been overthinking your pitch or convincing yourself you need a bigger audience before you can pitch bigger guests or sponsors—and you're ready to be the kind of host people say yes to without hesitation—hit play and let's dive in.1:08 – The Surprising Growth That Can Happen When You Treat Rejection as a Strategy, Not a Setback 6:24 – How to Use Pitch Rejections to Improve Your Messaging 9:17 – A Simple Way to Make Your Pitches More Specific (and Stand Out) 12:24 – What it Really Means When No One Replies to Your Pitch (and How to Handle It) 14:15 – If Pitching Feels Intimidating Right Now, Here's How to Take the Pressure OffEpisode Links:Steal Alice's pitch templates—the same ones that have helped her clients land interviews on 500+ top shows like WorkLife with Adam Grant.Check Out Alice Draper's Podcast: My Rejection StoryLearn More from Alice: hustlingwriters.comOther Episodes You'll Enjoy:The Real Reason You're Still Sitting on That Guest or Sponsor Pitch→ This episode was recorded on the Deity VO-7USupport the showLiked this episode? Share it with a fellow podcaster! Love this show? Say thanks by leaving a positive review.Register for Courtney's Free Podcasting Workshop: How to 10x Your Business with a Podcast in 2025Schedule a 1:1 Podcasting Audit with Courtney. Curious about PodLaunch®? Book a Demo to see if our podcasting mentorship is the right fit for your business. Connect with Courtney: Linked In | Instagram | PodLaunch HQ ©Ⓟ 2018–2025 by Courtney Elmer. All Rights Reserved.
This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak chat with Maria Morgan, co-founder of Passpaw, about how veterinary teams can turn international pet travel documentation from a time-consuming task into an efficient, team-led, and profitable service. As more clients travel with their pets post-pandemic, many practices either avoid these certificates entirely or undercharge for the work involved. Maria shares how her workflow management software aims to eliminate the administrative burden of health certificates and enhance team member utilization, freeing veterinarians to focus on patient care. Learn how practices can turn a traditionally frustrating service into a team-led revenue stream that improves client experience and practice profitability: Passpaw. Maria Morgan recommends Freakonomics podcast - "Should America be Run by Trader Joe's (Update)" and Adam Grant's TED talk - "How to stop languishing and start finding flow".
You know that pitch you *almost* sent? Or that big guest or sponsor you're telling yourself you'll reach out to “once you're ready”? That idea you keep researching but haven't acted on yet? This episode is about that moment—when you're stuck between wanting more for your podcast and actually going after it.HuffPost contributor and media expert Alice Draper has helped clients land guest spots on 500+ podcasts, including WorkLife with Adam Grant and UnF*ck Your Brain. She joins me to unpack the psychology behind rejection, why your brain sees “no” as a survival threat, and how this fear keeps you from the visibility, credibility, and growth you deserve.So if you're tired of watching other people land the guests, sponsors, and traction you want—and you're ready to start pitching bigger names and getting your show into the rooms it deserves to be in (even if it scares you a little)—hit play and let's dive in.1:36 – The Real Fear Behind “My Show Isn't Big Enough Yet”6:15 – How Visibility Triggers Imposter Syndrome (and What to Do About It)9:09 – “They'll Probably Say No Anyway”—And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves15:46 – Why You Don't Need More Downloads to Pitch Big Guests or Sponsors17:58 – The One Thing You're Not Doing That Could Actually Grow Your ShowEpisode Links:Steal Alice's pitch templates—the same ones that have helped her clients land interviews on 500+ top shows like WorkLife with Adam Grant.Check Out Alice Draper's Podcast: My Rejection StoryLearn More from Alice: hustlingwriters.comOther Episodes You'll Enjoy:How to Train for Rejection and Use It to Grow Your Podcast Faster → This episode was recorded on the Deity VO-7USupport the showLiked this episode? Share it with a fellow podcaster! Love this show? Say thanks by leaving a positive review.Register for Courtney's Free Podcasting Workshop: How to 10x Your Business with a Podcast in 2025Schedule a 1:1 Podcasting Audit with Courtney. Curious about PodLaunch®? Book a Demo to see if our podcasting mentorship is the right fit for your business. Connect with Courtney: Linked In | Instagram | PodLaunch HQ ©Ⓟ 2018–2025 by Courtney Elmer. All Rights Reserved.
Chase was inspired by a Simon Sinek podcast episode he listened to recently featuring Brené Brown and Adam Grant. Simon, Brené, and Adam talk about the importance of self-awareness and the power of situational awareness. Even in this short, 6-minute, episode you will be inspired and walk away with a tool to help improve your self-awareness and situational awareness! You can listen to the entire Bit of Optimism Podcast using the link below. A Bit of Optimism Podcast: Thinking About Thinking Got a question? Ask us! Do you have a question you'd like to hear answered on Career Dreams? You can submit an audio recording of your question to be featured on an upcoming episode! Like it? Share it! If you're finding value in exploring your Career Dreams through this podcast, please share it with your friends, followers and colleagues! Also, your ratings and reviews help others find the show...so please, let us know what you think! You can share your Career Dreams with us anytime via email: careerdreams@forumcu.com. To learn more about making your Career Dreams come true at FORUM Credit Union, visit our website: https://www.forumcu.com/careers Dream on!
Episode 145: The Science of Creativity: Why Creative Hobbies Fuel Innovation and Healing Have you ever felt stuck in your work, unsure how to break through to the next level of impact and fulfillment? You're not alone. Many therapists, psychologists, and helping professionals find themselves yearning to create something bigger than traditional one-on-one sessions—a book, a podcast, a new therapy approach, a retreat, or an online course. Yet, they feel paralyzed, unsure how to make space for creativity in their already full lives. But what if creativity wasn't a luxury? What if engaging in artistic hobbies wasn't just a way to ‘relax,' but a scientifically-backed method to enhance your innovation, impact, and overall effectiveness? The Nobel Prize Study: Why the Most Brilliant Minds Engage in the Arts A groundbreaking study highlighted in Originals by Adam Grant analyzed Nobel Prize-winning scientists between 1901 and 2005, comparing them to their equally skilled but less accomplished peers. Both groups had deep expertise in their respective fields, yet the Nobel laureates were dramatically more likely to engage in creative pursuits outside of their scientific work (Root-Bernstein, & Root-Bernstein, 2019). Here's what the research found: Artistic HobbyIncreased Likelihood for Nobel Prize WinnersPlaying music (instrument, composing, conducting)2x more likelyVisual arts (drawing, painting, sculpting)7x more likelyCrafts (woodworking, mechanics, electronics, glassblowing)7.5x more likelyWriting (poetry, plays, novels, essays)12x more likelyPerforming arts (acting, dance, magic)22x more likely The pattern doesn't just apply to scientists. A large-scale study of entrepreneurs and inventors found that those who started businesses and contributed to patent applications were also more likely to engage in arts-related hobbies, such as painting, literature, and sculpture (Woronkowicz & Noonan, 2019). What This Means for Therapists, Healers, and Innovators If you're a therapist, psychologist, or wellness professional dreaming of making a greater impact but feeling creatively blocked, this study offers a profound insight: the key to unlocking your next big idea may not be more certifications or academic research, but rather, more time spent in creative play. Creativity Fuels Problem-Solving Engaging in the arts rewires the brain to make novel connections. Just as Nobel laureates use creativity to approach scientific problems in unique ways, therapists and wellness professionals can use it to craft new healing modalities, write transformative books, or design workshops that truly shift paradigms. Creative Hobbies Make You More Resilient Many of us hold deep grief, shame, or burnout from years of emotional labor. Creativity offers a powerful means of processing emotions. Studies in neuroscience show that engaging in artistic pursuits activates the default mode network (DMN), the part of the brain responsible for self-reflection, insight, and emotional integration. This is why many people report breakthroughs in therapy or deep personal healing when they take up dance, writing, or painting. For me, dance has become an essential part of my healing journey. After not dancing for 18 years, I found myself drawn back in through a simple six-week beginner tap class. That one small decision unlocked a deeper connection to my body, my emotions, and my creativity. I've since added contemporary dance back into my life and even choreographed a duet with a fellow therapist. Interestingly, the study shows that performing arts (acting, dance, and magic) had the strongest correlation with innovation, making practitioners 22 times more likely to win a Nobel Prize. That alone is enough for me to believe in the transformative power of creative movement. Creativity is a Form of Rebellion Against Perfectionism Many in our field hesitate to embrace creativity because of what their academic peers might think.
In this week's solo episode, I open up about something deeply personal - navigating another stress injury and the emotional spiral it triggered. I reflect on the long-term effects of an eating disorder, the lessons I've had to learn (and re-learn), and the importance of catching ourselves before we fall too far down a familiar rabbit hole. From stress fractures and stubborn inner critics to spontaneous lunches and surprising friendships, I try to make sense of what it means to find softness in setbacks. I talk about shame, healing, and the very human urge to control everything - even when we know we can't. There's some Adam Grant wisdom, a sprinkle of Maria Shriver, and a few thoughts about letting life surprise you. And, yes, I do circle back to the bizarre comfort of knowing that sometimes, we really are exactly where we're meant to be.Stay Connected with Hurt to Healing:Instagram: instagram.com/hurttohealingpodTikTok: tiktok.com/@hurttohealingpodLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hurt-to-healingSubstack: substack.com/@hurttohealingWebsite: hurttohealing.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mae Martin is a comedian, improviser, screenwriter, and podcast host. Their work on Netflix includes the stand-up special “Sap” and the aptly-named TV series “Feel Good.” Adam and Mae chat about the value of vulnerability in connection, snapping out of procrastination, shame spirals, and life lessons from the art of improvisation. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Live Life Happy with Andrea Seydel – The Podcast for Book Lovers & Lifelong Learners Welcome to Live Life Happy with Andrea Seydel! If you love books that inspire, transform, and empower, you're in the right place. This podcast is all about book summaries and actionable takeaways from incredible authors who pour their wisdom into books on happiness, well-being, and personal growth. Now in Season 3, we're diving even deeper—taking the powerful insights from these books and applying them in real, tangible ways. Think of this as your shortcut to the best knowledge out there, distilled into digestible, practical strategies you can use to create a happier, more fulfilling life. As the founder of Live Life Happy Publishing, I also weave in tips on writing and publishing your own book. Whether you're dreaming of becoming an author or just love learning from the best, this podcast is a space for book lovers, thought leaders, and changemakers. If you're ready to read, learn, and take action, hit play and join the community! And if you're ready to bring your own book to life, I'm here as your Book Doula, helping you navigate the world of publishing while keeping 100% of your rights and royalties.
Today, we take you inside Wharton professor Adam Grant's Lecture on Leadership, protests at Former Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett's speaker event, and the announcement of this year's class day speaker Jay Shetty.
Wharton organizational psychologist and New York Times-bestselling author Adam Grant shares insights on making better business decisions, fostering innovation and how your personal "challenge network” can lead to superior products and delight your customers.Share these insights on how to be a successful leader: 1. Encourage Humor and Humility: They help maintain a flexible and open-minded approach, making it easier to rethink and adapt.2. Have Pre-Mortems: Discuss as many potential failures as possible before launching. That way you can prevent or know how to handle problems when they occur.3. Eschew Best Practices for Better Practices: “Best Practices” implies there's only one right way, while seeking “Better Practices” encourages people to innovate and try new things.4. Build a Challenge Network: Maintain a group of trusted critics who provide truly honest feedback to improve your decision-making.5. Reward Speaking Truth to Power: Encourage employees to ask questions, suggest improvements and challenge outdated ideas.
John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and ran his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Since 2012, John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where he has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, including Peter Diamandis, Adam Grant, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Marie Forleo. John is also the Co-founder of Rise25, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners. They help their clients generate ROI through their done-for-you podcast service. In this episode… Facing difficult conversations, building genuine connections, and tackling unpleasant tasks are everyday struggles in both business and life. Whether it's avoiding friction, procrastinating on necessary work, or feeling inauthentic while networking, these challenges can hinder personal and professional growth. How can individuals push through discomfort and develop meaningful, value-driven relationships? John Corcoran, a seasoned entrepreneur and podcast host, shares practical strategies to overcome these obstacles. He emphasizes the importance of authentic networking, offering tips on providing genuine value to others rather than being self-serving. He also introduces the concept of "swallowing the frog," which encourages tackling unpleasant but necessary tasks head-on. To streamline business operations, John recommends using tools like PandaDoc for efficient contract management and highlights the value of documenting systems to enhance productivity. Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as Chad Franzen interviews John Corcoran, Co-founder of Rise25, about effective networking, productivity, and overcoming professional hurdles. John shares insights on building meaningful connections, using digital tools for efficiency, and developing resilience through difficult conversations. He also discusses impactful books and insightful podcasts, offering valuable lessons on raising well-grounded children and mastering effective business systems.
Today, we unpack the book "Think Again" by Adam Grant.In this book profile, we explore the transformative power of rethinking and why our ability to change our minds may be our most valuable skill in a rapidly changing world. Charles breaks down Grant's compelling case for intellectual humility and how clinging to outdated knowledge and beliefs can limit our potential. Through practical examples and research-backed insights, the episode reveals how leaders, innovators, and individuals can cultivate the habit of questioning what they know and embrace the uncomfortable but rewarding process of continuous learning.Key topics include:• The three mental modes that prevent rethinking - preacher, prosecutor, and politician - and why we should adopt the scientist mindset instead• How misplaced confidence and the Dunning-Kruger effect lead even intelligent people to overestimate their knowledge• The difference between harmful relationship conflict and productive task conflict in debates and disagreements• Techniques for changing minds effectively without triggering defensiveness or psychological reactance• Why stereotypes limit our thinking and how to break free from binary biases that oversimplify complex realitiesLearn from Charles's breakdown how to detach your identity from your opinions, escape the trap of certainty, and create learning cultures that value rethinking over being right. Think Again Book: https://www.amazon.com/Think-Again-Power-Knowing-What/dp/1984878107-Website and live online programs: http://ims-online.comBlog: https://blog.ims-online.com/Podcast: https://ims-online.com/podcasts/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesagood/Twitter: https://twitter.com/charlesgood99Chapters:(00:00) Introduction(01:00) Tip: Why Being Confidently Wrong Is Dangerous(03:45) The Dunning-Kruger Effect (07:15) Technique: Productive Conflict vs. Relationship Conflict(09:00) Technique: How to Win Arguments Without Fighting(10:30) Tool: Breaking Free from Stereotypes and Mental Boxes(12:30) Technique: Changing Minds Through Motivational Interviewing(13:45) Tip:Escaping Binary Bias and Embracing Complexity(16:30) Conclusion
Have you ever met someone who gave you the shirt off their back… or someone who kept score every time they did something for you? In this episode of The Ryan Leak Podcast, we explore the powerful difference between givers and takers and why generosity isn't just a nice idea—it's a way of life. Ryan shares one of his favorite Proverbs, a jaw-dropping story from a funeral director, and insights from Adam Grant's Give and Take that reveal how givers ultimately win. Whether it's in your marriage, job, social media, or friendships, this episode will challenge you to live with open hands and think about the legacy you're creating—one generous act at a time.
IntroductionLIVE from a bottomless pit of CEO pay, it's a Business Pants Friday Show here at March 21st Studios, featuring AnalystHole Matt Moscardi. On today's weekly wrap up: Nelson Peltz hates woke ice cream, Self-hating Cybertrucks, and anti-ESG manbabies Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.Story of the Week (DR):‘Incompetent:' Jamie Dimon unloads on proxy advisor ISSJamie Dimon said Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) should be “gone and dead and done with”, as he also launched an attack on those who pay for their services.In an interview with Semafor at Blackrock's retirement summit, Mr Dimon said: “Anyone who gives them money – shame on you.”Unilever hit ‘new levels of oppressiveness,' Ben & Jerry's claims as its CEO was sacked over social activismIce cream maker Ben & Jerry's has accused its parent company of firing its CEO David Stever over his support of the brand's progressive politics.On Tuesday, the Vermont-based brand filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Unilever “has repeatedly threatened Ben & Jerry's personnel, including CEO David Stever, should they fail to comply with Unilever's efforts to silence the Social Mission.”Ben & Jerry's said Unilever informed its board on March 3 that it was removing and replacing Ben & Jerry's CEO David Stever. Ben & Jerry's said that violated its merger agreement with Unilever, which states that any decisions regarding a CEO's removal must come after a consultation with an advisory committee from Ben & Jerry's board.“empowered to protect and defend Ben & Jerry's brand equity and integrity”White man David Stever, 4 women of color (one who is the chair), and two black men. In Vermont? Are they trolling us?!?! I guess it can be done. Unilever board member Nelson Peltz is still trying to find a white actor for Black PantherUnilever has not publicly disclosed a reason for Stever's firingThe ice cream company has a unique corporate structure that was meant to protect its activist mission, even after its 2000 sale to Unilever:Independent Board of Directors: Unlike most Unilever-owned brands, Ben & Jerry's has an independent board specifically tasked with preserving the company's social mission.Merger Agreement Protections: The 2000 acquisition agreement required consultation with the board for key leadership decisions, including hiring or firing the CEO.Social Mission Oversight: The board exists to prevent the dilution of the company's activist identity—something that appears to be under increasing pressure.Ben & Jerry's Founders Say They Stand Behind Ousted CEOBoeing Sued for Wrongful Death by Family of WhistleblowerBoeing pushed John Barnett, who was a quality manager at Boeing for nearly three decades, to his death by harassing and intimidating him after he raised safety concerns about the company's plant building the 787 Dreamliner in Charleston, South Carolina, a wrongful death lawsuit filed in federal court in the state alleges. His family claim in their suit that Boeing responded by carrying out a “campaign of harassment, abuse and intimidation intended to discourage, discredit and humiliate him until he would either give up or be discredited”.In the evening of March 8th last year, Barnett left the law offices of Boeing's outside counsel in Charleston after testifying for two days in the OSHA case. Barnett was giving his account of how Boeing violated its own policies and procedures, and FAA rules, during his seven years as a quality inspector at the North Charleston plant that assembles the 787 Dreamliner. He'd delayed a trip back to his home in Louisiana to finish his deposition the next day, a Saturday. Videos cited in the police report show Barnett leaving the hotel around 8:30 PM, and getting in his Clemson orange, Dodge truck. When Barnett failed to show by the 10 AM starting time for his final round of testimony, Turkewitz called the Holiday Inn to conduct a “welfare check.”Note: “America come together or die!!! Pray that the motherfk…ers who destroyed my life pay!!! I pray that Boeing pays!!! Bury me face down so that Boeing and their lying ass leaders can kiss my ass. I can't do this any longer!!! F-k Boeing!!!'Business has been neglected': Longtime Tesla investor demands Elon Musk resign as CEO MMElon Musk Says He Has No Idea What He Did to Make Everybody So Mad at Him"It's really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of, really, hatred and violence from the left.""My companies make great products that people love and I've never physically hurt anyone.”“So why the hate and violence against me?”"I always thought that the left, you know, Democrats, were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring, and yet they're burning down cars, they're firebombing dealerships, they're firing bullets into dealerships, they're smashing up Teslas," Musk said. "Tesla is a peaceful company. We've never done anything harmful.""I've never done anything harmful."“Because I am a deadly threat to the woke mind parasite and the humans it controls."Tesla just recalled basically all the Cybertrucks ever sold in AmericaTesla workers in Germany say they don't have time to use the bathroomTesla workers at a German factory say working conditions don't allow them enough time for drinking or bathroom breaks.Over 3,000 workers at a Tesla gigafactory near Berlin have signed a petition asking for more breaks and an end to intimidation from management, according to a statement from German metalworker's union IG Metall.A Huge Amount of Money Is Missing From TeslaEven the company's financials are now sprouting some glaring questions. As the Financial Times reports, a whopping $1.4 billion appears to have vanished in thin air. The enormous hole arises when examining the carmaker's capital expenditures and how those compare to the reported rise of the value of its assets.According to Tesla's cashflow statements, the firm spent $6.3 billion on "purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales" in the second half of 2024. However, its balance sheet claims the gross value of property, plant, and equipment rose by only $4.9 billion — leaving an eyebrow-raising $1.4 billion discrepancy.Musk Set to Receive Top-Secret Briefing on U.S. War Plans for ChinaMusk Tells Tesla Workers: Don't Sell Your SharesTesla board members, executive sell off over $100 million of stock in recent weeksTogether, four top officers at the company have offloaded over $100 million in shares since early February.Last week, longtime Musk ally James Murdoch became the latest to do so, exercising a stock option and selling shares worth approximately $13 million, according to an SEC filing.Elon Musk's brother, Kimbal Musk, who also sits on the board, unloaded 75,000 shares worth approximately $27 million last month, according to a filing.The chairman of the board, Robyn Denholm, has offloaded more than $75 million dollars worth of shares in two transactions in the past five weeks, federal filings show.Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Chobani CEO: Why we're now giving all workers at least 12 weeks of parental leaveDR: JD Vance rips globalization, calling cheap labor a 'drug'MM: Tesla Cybertruck deliveries are on hold as trims are flying off the 'bulletproof' truck DRThey recalled ALL of them - imagine if Mary Barra put out a car at GM that, 1 year after releasing, they had to recall ALL of them? What would you do investors? Assholiest of the Week (MM):WahWah, our CEO: Tesla warns White House over tariffs in unsigned letter: ‘It's a polite way to say that the bipolar tariff regime is screwing over Tesla'Wah, China: OpenAI slams DeepSeek, warning the US government that China is catching up fastWah, customers: Tesla owners are trading in their EVs at record levels, Edmunds says, Tesla springs last-minute public all hands on staffers, confusion ensues, Tesla Cybertrucks are getting roasted on TikTok—one prank at a timeWah, investors: Baillie Gifford slashes Tesla stake as investor calls on Musk to step down, $1.4bn is a lot to fall through the cracks, even for Tesla, A Huge Amount of Money Is Missing From TeslaWah, privacy: Dad demands OpenAI delete ChatGPT's false claim that he murdered his kidsWah, I'm back in middle school: Elon Musk says he's shocked at the level of Tesla hate and vandalism happening: 'I've never done anything harmful'Stefan Padfield DR"It is not surprising that our proposal received low support, given the concerns we have about bias and conflicts of interest infecting the votes and recommendations of the Big 5 asset managers and proxy advisors, as well as the company's management," Padfield said."The issues raised by our proposals remain relevant to Disney's bottom line, and we arguably saw an indication of this in the fact that neither ESG nor DEI were mentioned once, directly or indirectly, in Iger's opening remarks -- suggesting the company is slowly distancing itself from the leftist radicalism embodied in those agendas," Padfield said.Fact check: ESG and DEI were not mentioned in Iger's remarks in 2024. They were not mentioned in 2023. Congrats on paying attention to whatever's in front of your face.Shareholders rejected your proposal because it was asinine and no one caresYour group, NCPPR, gets an AVERAGE of 1% everywhere… but did you notice that NLPC, your sister group in anti white person crime, got a solid 11% in favor at Apple for it's very real proposal on the dangers of AI? And Bowyer, got a 10% in favor at Apple for a report on child sex abuse software and got 1% here at Disney?Maybe the problem is you write overtly racist, stupid fucking shareholder proposals and you shout shut your fat mouth?Have we reached the CEO pay tipping point?Surge in incentive pay lifts HanesBrands' 2024 CEO compensation to $12.9 millionBig companies backtrack on climate goals in bosses' payStarbucks Must End Its Greed'—Bernie Sanders Calls Out Starbucks CEO For Getting $96 Million For 4 Months Of WorkKlarna's CEO got an 862% pay rise ahead of its IPOWe hate TREES now? TREES?Is planting trees 'DEI'? Trump administration cuts nationwide tree-planting effortHeadliniest of the WeekDR: Top workplace psychologist Adam Grant says offering employees better pay packages is the smartest move for the ‘long term'DR: Mom of child dead from measles: “Don't do the shots,” my other 4 kids were fineDR: Prince Harry's friends are blaming Meghan Markle for making him ‘too woke'MM: Donald Trump's favorite musical explained as he demands 'non-woke' theaterLike 89% of Broadway is gay, no?MM: Wait, whaaaa? British Gas: Centrica CEO's pay slashed in half at FTSE 100 giantWho Won the Week?DR: Sonya Mishra, author of new study: How does society perceive power-seeking women differently from status-seeking women?The study found that desiring status is seen as more congruent with feminine stereotypes compared to desiring power, and that women who desire status are less likely to incur backlash compared to women who desire power.MM: This video: Tesla Fans Furious at Video of Tesla Crashing Into Wall Painted Like RoadMark Rober tested autopilots for Lexus and Tesla… and Tesla ran over a dummy kid over and overAs Electrek points out, Autopilot has a well-documented tendency to disengage right before a crash. Regulators have previously found that the advanced driver assistance software shuts off a fraction of a second before making impact.It's a highly questionable approach that has raised concerns over Tesla trying to evade guilt by automatically turning off any possibly incriminating driver assistance features before a crash.PredictionsDR: Bowyer Research and Robbie Starbuck blame female CEOs in the S&P 500 for reducing the overall percentage of male CEOs in the S&P 500MM: Bowyer Research and Robbie Starbuck blame all the women running the big 5 - Larry Fink, Ron O'Hanley, Salim Ramji, Gary Retelny, and Bob Mann - for the failure of their shareholder proposals and demand a report from each requesting an analysis of the risk of having so many woke women running the big 5
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Award-winning journalist and The Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan spoke to me about the worst way to launch a book, writing long-form watchdog journalism, and her latest ME, BUT BETTER, The Science and Promise of Personality Change. Olga Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic – covering science, health, and psychology for more than a decade – and the author, previously, of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World. She was also The Atlantic's Global editor, and former host of The Atlantic's podcast How To Start Over. In her forthcoming book Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change (S&S/Simon Element), she reveals the science behind lasting personality change, and explains how anyone, at any age, can seize the reigns of their destiny. New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Rubin called the book, “Hilarious, honest, and packed with cutting-edge research…”, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant wrote, “This book shatters the myth that personality is set in stone. Drawing on state-of-the-art evidence and rich personal experience, Olga Khazan artfully reveals what our traits really are—and how we can adapt them to achieve our goals.” Olga Khazan has also written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Vox, and other publications. She is a two-time recipient of the International Reporting Project's Journalism Fellowship and winner of the 2017 National Headliner Award for Magazine Online Writing. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you're a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Olga Khazan and I discussed: How she got her start at The Atlantic Why she never got to see her first book in a bookstore Turning a piece of long-form journalism into a book pitch Why reducing your neuroticism by even a small amount can improve your life On crappy first drafts And a lot more! Show Notes: olgakhazan.com Olga Khazan - The Atlantic Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change by Olga Khazan (Amazon) Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textAbout This EpisodePaula Davis, founder of the Stress and Resilience Institute, takes us on her bold journey from burnout to breakthrough in this compelling conversation. Paula's story begins with a choice between her health and her career– a decision point many professionals face but few discuss openly. After walking away from her law practice, she discovered her true calling: helping leaders and teams prevent burnout before it happens. Her personal experience of values misalignment became the catalyst for the research and framework that would ultimately help thousands. Paula also dives into the five leadership mindsets from her new book, Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being & Resilience. From creating "sticky recognition" that makes team members feel genuinely valued to building workload sustainability, Paula offers practical strategies for leaders at every level. Tune in to start improving how your team works. Paula recommends starting with recognition and mattering, the foundational mindset that opens the door to resilience, belonging, and exceptional performance. About Paula DavisPaula Davis JD, MAPP, is the Founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute. For 15 years, she has been a trusted advisor to leaders in organizations of all sizes helping them to make work better. Paula is a globally recognized expert on the effects of workplace stress, burnout prevention, workplace well-being, and building resilience for individuals and teams. Paula left her law practice after seven years and earned a master's degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her post-graduate training, Paula was selected to be part of the University of Pennsylvania faculty teaching and training resilience skills to soldiers as part of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program. Paula is the author of Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being & Resilience, which is about burnout prevention using a teams-based approach. Beating Burnout at Work was nominated for best new book by the Next Big Idea Club, which is curated by Adam Grant, Susan Cain, Malcom Gladwell, and Daniel Pink. Paula has shared her expertise at educational institutions such as Harvard Law School, Wharton School Executive Education, and Princeton. She is a two-time recipient of the distinguished teaching award from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She has been featured in and on The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post and many other media outlets. Paula is also a contributor to Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today. Additional ResourcesWebsite: stressandresilience.comInstagram: @stressandresilienceLinkedIn: @PaulaDavisSupport the show-------- Stay Connected www.leighburgess.com Watch the episodes on YouTube Follow Leigh on Instagram: @theleighaburgess Follow Leigh on LinkedIn: @LeighBurgess Sign up for Leigh's bold newsletter
Psychologists Off The Clock: A Psychology Podcast About The Science And Practice Of Living Well
Balancing warmth with assertiveness can feel like an impossible juggling act—too soft, and you're overlooked; too strong, and you're “too much.” Alison Fragale's book, Likable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve, offers practical, research-backed strategies to help women excel at work and in life. In this episode, you'll get to understand the science of power and status, self-promotion without the cringe, and overcoming gender biases with authenticity and confidence. We also include real-world challenges, making this discussion both insightful and refreshingly relatable. Listen and Learn: How power controls resources, but status shapes influence and why respect is the key to real authority How women can play smart within unfair rules to spark real change The science behind being a likable badass Navigating the balance between assertiveness and warmth and finding your authentic style Overcoming biases in social and professional settings How to confidently share your wins without feeling boastful, while staying warm and relatable Resources: Alison's Book: Likable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve Alison's Website: alisonfragale.com Connect with Alison on: LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Alison's Substack: The Upper Hand with Alison Fragale Alison's Media Page: https://alisonfragale.com/media-research/ Alison's Hidden Brain episode: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/how-to-win-people-over/ My WorkLife with Adam Grant episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-secret-to-success-isnt-power-its-status/id1346314086?i=1000668204498 About Alison Fragale Alison Fragale is the Mary Farley Ames Lee Distinguished Scholar of Organizational Behavior at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School. As a research psychologist, award-winning professor, international keynote speaker, and author, she is on a mission to help others — especially women — use behavioral science to work and live better. Her scholarship has been published in the most prestigious academic journals in her field and featured in prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Boston Globe, and Inc. Alison is the author of the national bestseller, LIKEABLE BADASS: How Women Get the Success They Deserve. She lives in Chicago with her husband and three children, who are all named after professional athletes. Related Episodes 49. Empowering Women with Robyn Walser 107. Playing Big with Tara Mohr 121. Be Mighty: An Episode for Stressed Out, Worried Women with Jill Stoddard 163. The Likeability Trap with Alicia Menendez 176. Fair Play with Eve Rodsky 185. Good Guys: Allies in the Workplace with Brad Johnson and David Smith 290. Shared Sisterhood: Collective Action for Racial and Gender Equity at Work with Tina Opie and Beth Livingston 321. Imposter No More with Jill Stoddard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ever left a meeting feeling more drained than before it started? That’s the dreaded meeting hangover. Brian Milner and Julie Chickering dive into why bad meetings have lasting effects—and what facilitators AND participants can do to make them better. Overview Bad meetings don’t just waste time, they drain energy, morale, and engagement long after they’re over. In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian and Julie Chickering unpack the concept of "meeting hangovers"—the lingering negative effects of ineffective meetings. They explore why bad meetings happen, the shared responsibility of facilitators and participants, and practical strategies for turning the tide. From fostering accountability to knowing when to walk it off, this conversation will help you rethink how meetings impact team dynamics and productivity. References and resources mentioned in the show: Julie Chickering #137 Stop Wasting Time with Guests Kate Megaw HBR The Hidden Toll of Meeting Hangovers by Brent N. Reed, et al. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink Remotely Productive by Alex Pukinskis Working on a Scrum Team Class Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Julie Chickering is the brains and brawn behind JC Agile Consulting, believes that Lean and Agile practices are packed with potential — to enable positive culture change, business agility, and breakthrough results. Julie is a past president and board member of the Agile Project Management Network (APLN), a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), as well as a traditional Project Management Professional (PMP). Auto-generated Transcript: Brian Milner (00:00) Welcome back Agile Mentors. We're here for another episode of Agile Mentors podcast. I'm with you as always Brian Milner and haven't got to say this for a while. So I'm happy to say again, welcome back to the show, the fabulous Julie Chickering. Welcome back, Julie. Julie (00:15) Thanks, Brian. Glad to be here. Brian Milner (00:17) Yeah, very excited to have Julie back. Julie is a friend of the show. We've had her on multiple times and it's been too long. We just need to have you on more often again. So thank you for making the time and coming back. We wanted to have Julie on sort of as a little bit of a continuation from our last episode that we had with Kate McGaw. You we talked a little bit about facilitation there and there was a lot that we talked about initially to set that up to talk about Julie (00:30) Sure. Brian Milner (00:44) just the fact that there's an epidemic of bad meetings. There's kind of a harmful thing happening where it's extremely prevalent that meetings are going poorly. There's not a lot of attention that's given to this. There's not a lot of focus in a lot of organizations because it's such a prevalent issue. of our meetings being so bad. And Julie pointed out to me this Harvard Business Review article that sort of became a touchstone, I think, for what we wanted to talk about. It's called the hidden toll of meeting hangovers. And we'll link to this in the show notes. But the idea behind the article was just to say, they quoted a stat early on saying that they did a study and found that more than a quarter, 28 % of meetings left employees with lingering negative effects, such as impaired engagement and productivity. And so that's what they were referring to this sort of this meeting hangover, that bad meetings take a toll beyond just the lost time in the meeting. And that's kind of what we were talking about more with Kate is, you know, yeah, we want to make our meetings better, but there is sort of this ongoing lingering that, you know, from my reading of this and what I've experienced, kind of compounds, you know? One bad meeting then can lead to another bad meeting and another one and that feeling of anxiety and disconnectedness and like I said here, impaired engagement and productivity, those kind of grow and get worse and worse the longer that you have these bad meetings. So Julie, I'll just start with you and say, you know, when you read this article, what was it? What was it that really stood out to you, that jumped out to you, that made you think this was an important kind of area of focus? Julie (02:27) First of all, I love the title because I can relate to it. So when you're having a hangover, you just feel terrible, right? And this person that they talk about first, Jacob, about like, he was so frustrated when he left the meeting. So the introductory story when he was so frustrated when he left the meeting, he canceled his one-on-one right after because he knew he couldn't concentrate. And then he was just like so upset. for the rest of the day and talking about how he just didn't even want to work on the project anymore. So just this, I just got this physical sensation reading this around how it feels when you're in a meeting that's ineffective. And we've all been there and I could just like feel it in my body when I read this story. And I also feel like once you know what I, what an ineffective meeting feels like, the ineffective one is more noticeable and draining. yeah, so and then this this lingering effect of morale and just wasted, just wasted opportunity. And it feels like Brian Milner (03:32) Yeah. Yeah. Julie (03:47) in the corporate world, this is the norm. That we just have meeting after meeting after meeting that's just sucking the life force out of everyone. And then we wonder why nothing gets done. Brian Milner (04:00) Yeah, I mean, this article is packed with statistics and it's tempting for me to just kind of read them all off to you. I'm not going to do that. But there's a couple of things that kind of jump out to me. they talk about how around half of people have this feeling of that as a result of the hangover from the meeting, that they have negative or harmful impacts on their interactions with coworkers. They feel more disconnected from their team. and they want to spend more time alone based on the fact that, I went through this really kind of, there's no other way to say it, traumatic experience of having this really harmful, bad meeting. they connect the dots by saying, people will leave these meetings and oftentimes they will then go commiserate with coworkers and say, share their frustrations, which is helpful, it's good. But it also, you know, they noted here, this can kind of spread some feeling of negativity or hopelessness, you know, that it's always going to be this way. You know, yeah, I had a meeting like that as well. Boy, I guess this place is doomed. It's always going to feel like this. And so they have this kind of ongoing, as I said, compounding almost nature of it that one bad thing leads to another leads to another leads to another. And pretty soon you've got this really harmful, negative work environment and it's not necessarily something that's just happened. It's just the repetition of going through those things lead to this ongoing negative psychological impact in the organization. Julie (05:28) Yeah, I'm just smiling because I can just think of some meetings that I used to have a leader that would always show up late. Always show up late. We'd be halfway through the topic and then he would show up and we'd have to stop what we were doing and go circle back and just speed and you could just feel. the whole mood of the meeting change. We were actually making progress and we have to stop and we have to go all the way over. And this is constant. So what we would do afterwards is then have meetings after the meetings to complain about the leader doing that. The more adult thing would have been of course to say to the leader, when you do this, Brian Milner (06:15) Yeah. Julie (06:22) This is the outcome. Brian Milner (06:25) Yeah. So, so that's kind of, you know, what we want to talk about a little bit in here as well is, in the last episode, we, focused a lot on facilitation and the idea that, Hey, there's a lot of responsibility to the meeting organizer, whoever's facilitating this to not have it be this negative kind of environment. And I don't disagree with any of that, that we talked about in the last episode. I think there is a lot of that, that is true, but I think it's, it's. important for participants to not look at that as, it's all the facilitator then, right? I'm just a participant, I'm showing up and it's your job to get all this stuff out of me. And if the meeting goes poorly, that's entirely your fault. And I think it's important for us to recognize, no, if I'm a participant, if I accept that meeting invite and I'm here, I have a role to play. I have a contribution to be made and I can have, you Julie (07:14) Right. Brian Milner (07:19) as kind of Pollyanna-ish as it sounds, I can have a negative impact or a positive impact on this meeting. And I think that's an important kind of responsibility to take a hold of. Julie (07:25) you Yeah, I agree. And I think about that in a couple of ways. So actually, in both Scrum Master and Product Owner class, I remind them at the end of every meeting to ask two questions. The next time we have this kind of meeting, what would you want to do differently? But you gotta ask the question. And if you ask the question and nobody says anything, then they can't feel victim to a poorly run meeting. But you gotta be able to listen. You gotta be able to listen to it. Doesn't mean you have to say yes in the moment. It could be that you would follow up after, but just ask the question. What would you wanna do differently the next time we have this type of meeting And then ask them, what did they like? Brian Milner (07:48) Yeah. That's good. Julie (08:11) I used to do it the other way around. I don't know if I told you this story before or not, but do you remember Daniel Pink did the he was our keynote speaker at the Scrum Gathering, our conference a few years ago when he talked about. OK, when he talked about timing. OK, so something he said is like, yes, he said, as people, if there's two, if there's good news and bad news to always start with the bad news first. And end with the good news, because as people, we remember the last thing we talked about it. Brian Milner (08:20) Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Julie (08:40) So if I say to you, okay, the next time we have this type of meeting, what would you want to do differently? And nobody says anything. Okay. What did you like? And then they leave going, we actually got something done. Unless of course we didn't get anything done. Brian Milner (08:57) That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, I think about like how in classes, a lot of times when we talk about forecasting and estimation, you know, I make a little joke. It's not really a joke. It's the truth. But when I present, I've learned over the years when I present information to stakeholders about timings, I, know, if, if I do calculations and it says it's going to take between five and six sprints to do something, I've learned to say the maximum amount of time it will take is six sprints. there's a chance it could come in as soon as it's five sprints and yeah. Yeah. I mean, I learned to do that because what I say in classes, I've learned a lot of people stop listening after the first one. And I think actually though, I may be wrong. It may be more what you're saying that, you know, we, we remember the last thing that we hear. but it may be a combination, right? Cause if, if I hear the low number first and I I'm happy with that, I stopped listening and I don't want to hear the bad news. Julie (09:27) Brilliant! Brian Milner (09:50) So if I say the bad news first, it could take as long as this, but there's a chance it could come in earlier, then I'm leaving them with the good news that it could be this, you know, as soon as this, but they've set their expectation that, you know, it could take as long as, you know, the bad news that I gave them initially. So I don't know, maybe there's a combination of that there as well. But yeah, I agree with what Daniel Pink says about that. And timings do make a big, difference for sure. and how we present things. Julie (10:18) Okay, so a key though in that is that you can only ask those questions if you're staying within the time box and you've allocated time to actually ask the question. And like some of these things that came up as the root causes of like poor time management, like running over or stuff like that. If you're running over, nobody's going to really want to take the opportunity to give you feedback. So what do you think about, so what you talked with Kate a lot about when we talking about here is the role of the facilitator. And I think we should talk about what people can do if they are feeling like they're the victim of the lack of facilitation or poor facilitation. So what do think about that? Brian Milner (10:52) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think we have several roles to play, right? I I agree. If I'm not the facilitator, then it's important for me to come into that meeting, well, knowing what the expectation is. know, like if I'm coming into a meeting as a participant, I don't think it's responsible. to show up to the meeting. And I've shown up to meetings like this, showing up with the attitude that, hey, it's not my meeting. It's the other person's meeting. You got me. I'm here. But now it's on you to get out of me, whatever it is that you're hoping to get. And maybe I put in very little prep work for it. So there is some kind of interplay here between the facilitator and the participant. Because you could say, well, that's the facilitator's responsibility to help you understand. Yes, it is. That's, this is what I'm trying to say is I, I think it's a mistake to shirk that responsibility entirely and say, I'm not the facilitator. Don't look at me. Right. If, if they didn't ask me to prepare or, or, you know, here's what I need you to, to, come prepared to talk about. Well, then I've got a bad facilitator and you know, we're just, we're hopelessly going to be in a bad meeting. No, when I get the invite, you know, Kate said last week, you know, Julie (12:17) Mm-hmm. Brian Milner (12:22) You can decline invitations to meetings. You don't have to accept every meeting invite that you get. But if you do accept it, I think that there's an accepting of responsibility there to say, all right, I'm going to be a participant in this meeting. What do you need from me? And in advance, making sure you talk to that meeting organizer and saying, hey, I agree. This is probably a good thing for us to meet about, but I want to prepare. I want to know that I can come to this meeting armed with information that's going to be helpful to others and I can play my part. So meeting facilitator, meeting organizer, what did you have in mind for me in this meeting? What is it that you were hoping to get from me in this meeting so that I can show up prepared? And that small little question, I think, does several things, right? mean, one, it says, to the facilitator, do you know what it is that you want from this person? If they come back at you and say, I don't know, I just thought maybe you needed, well, if they say, you know, we just thought maybe you needed to be in the loop or whatever, well, I might come back at that and say, that sounds like an email, you know? Julie (13:31) Yeah, I'm also thinking though there's the flip side of then people, there's two different things. I want to go back to how I can also help. what also struck me when you were saying that is that I think there's also this cultural part of am I being excluded? That, you know, that sense of They're not inviting me. A lot of times people don't need to be there. What you're afraid if you're not there, does that mean something? Does it mean you're being cut out? You're not important? There's that whole ego part. Yeah. Brian Milner (14:04) Yeah. Right. Sure, mean, especially if there's a decision to be made, right? You could feel like, they don't want my voice in that decision. And I think that that's a legitimate concern. If I'm responsible for an area and decisions are gonna be made in the meeting and I'm left out of that invitation, I might have a concern and say, if there's gonna be a decision made around this, I probably should have an input. Is there reason why you didn't want my input in this meeting? And, you know, even asking that question can sometimes just trigger, well, this is lower level things. This is not really at the level that you weigh in on. Usually we didn't want to waste your time, you know, something like that. You might find out it has nothing to do with the fact that they didn't want your opinion. It was more of, we were trying to be conscious of your time and, and, and didn't think that this was the kind of thing that you would need to weigh in on. So you might have a micromanaging kind of problem there that you need to address as well. Julie (15:11) Yeah, this is all people's stuff. It's what makes it fun. Brian Milner (15:14) Yeah. I want to, want to just, I'm sorry. I don't want to mean to interrupt you, but there's one thing I've been thinking about this whole time as well, because we've been talking about bad meetings and bad meeting hangovers. And I think initially the first thought that kind of comes to our heads about that is facilitation and maybe the meeting not being organized well. But I think there's another thing that makes a meeting a bad meeting that it's important to call out as well. Julie (15:37) Mm. Brian Milner (15:40) I'll just give you an example. I remember there was a job I took the very first day of the job. It my first day on the job. We had a meeting with some of the other leaders in that organization, and I got called into this, and they introduced me. Hey, this is Brian. I remember them saying, he's the new whatever, whatever the last guy was that had my position. OK, he's the new whoever. And we got into discussion about upcoming things, the status of different projects and other things. in the middle of that meeting, there became a shouting match and there were F bombs dropped left and right. And I remember walking out of that meeting going, what the hell did I get myself into? You know? so what I'm trying to call out there is there are sometimes bad meetings. It's not about the facilitation or the order or the agenda or anything else. There's sometimes bad meetings because we don't bring kind of the Julie (16:15) Mm-hmm. Brian Milner (16:29) best parts of ourselves to the meeting. We bring the worst parts of ourselves to the meeting. And sometimes we don't censor that and we don't let those, we don't kind of, I don't know how to put it. We're not engaging civilly, right? And I know that sometimes when I've been in those and I've had multiple of those kinds of meetings like that, that I would say, yeah, that was a bad meeting. But it wasn't because the facilitator did a bad job. It's because the participants were kind of letting their inner demons manifest through themselves in the meeting and they weren't really treating everyone with respect. They were very disrespectful to their coworkers. And I think that that's maybe more common than we care to admit. Julie (17:05) Mm-hmm. Yes, when you're sharing that to me, that goes back to meeting working agreements. like, what can I, so if we go back to, if you're in a situation where you're in a bad meeting, even if the facilitator is doing the best that they can, there's things that you can do. So to me, if we've had, and I know you were brand new, but you said that that was not. uncommon. If we had meeting working agreements and you let out an F-bomb and that was against the meeting agreements that anyone else in the room can say, you just broke one of our, you can, you, anyone can call people on that behavior. shouldn't have to be just the facilitator because the facilitator might be like just trying to run through, okay, now what am I going to do? It might be needing to just take a little breath to figure out what do, right? But I can imagine if that was the norm in that environment that people got that disrespectful in the meeting that when people left, there was a hangover effect. Like you kind of was like, what am I doing? Brian Milner (18:07) Right. Julie (18:27) What's happening here? What's going on? What did I sign up for on day one? This is day one. What's day two going to be like? Are we holding back? Right. Here's the new guy. Let's be on our good behavior. We'll only drop three F bombs instead of four. So, at, I was very fortunate that at, Brian Milner (18:27) Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah, they were on their best behavior, right? Guess I was new. Yeah. Julie (18:50) rally software, just, this was norm. It was normal to learn, everyone learned how to facilitate and be good participants and all that, except it was really quite funny at our coaches events because we had to have the working agreement that the facilitator actually got to choose how to facilitate, but we didn't get to facilitate the facilitators. But anyway, I have started recommending Alex Bukinski's book, remotely productive. took a lot of what Jean taught us and help is helping people apply that remotely. So like chapter four is how to help in a bad meeting. So if you're a participant and it's going bad, how can you help get back on track in a respectful way? So not being, not being a jerk about it. But even, so he just even gives examples of things like. when somebody makes a recommendation. like noticing when people agree on an action and you type it into chat. It doesn't have to be the facilitator who types it into chat. Like as a participant, you can go, okay, the action was or a decision was made noting decisions, decision, write the decision down, but helping the facilitator be like, we would talk about that. Actually, I forgot until I just started speaking out about it that often, especially in Brian Milner (19:54) Yeah. Yeah. Julie (20:11) big significant meetings, would have a scribe, a facilitator and a scribe. So this is what he's talking about actually is somebody scribing. Brian Milner (20:22) Yeah, yeah, that's a very important component because if we just shout things out and no one's really capturing what the next steps are, those are going to get lost. And we could have to repeat this meeting because we just didn't really follow up in any way. We didn't take any action. So I agree. That's an important component of it is at least designating that it doesn't have to be one person, but just designating that, hey, here's the expectation. Here's what we're going to do. Yeah. Julie (20:49) Um, yeah. So there's a bunch of really good tips in here and like the Kindle version's 1499 or something. So I've been telling people like, if you can have just one meeting that sucks less, you're going to get your 1499 back. So if you could have one less meeting hangover, you're to get your 1499 back, think for sure. Brian Milner (20:49) That's a great tip. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I should clarify with my story earlier that I'm a big boy. It wasn't the language that bothered me. It was directed at someone else, like kind of F-U, that kind of thing. That's a very different dynamic than just saying, those effing suppliers, I sure hate that. That's fine. Or maybe more fine for others than some, but. Julie (21:21) Mm-hmm. Right. Brian Milner (21:38) That didn't bother me, was more just that the attitude behind it was a negative one towards someone else. But yeah, that's a great tip there, just understanding that when I'm a participant there, when I show up, that I have a role to play in it as well. There's things I can do and if there's not notes being taken, then I can maybe step up and do that. Hey, someone said we're going to need to do this? All right, let me put that in the chat. Remember, this is what needs to happen. Julie (22:05) Yeah, and he gives nice, some like a template here on when we're making decisions like data, diagnosis, direction, do next. So he's given a nice, he gives a lot of really great tools. I'm really, and like liking it quite a bit. back to your, your example that is, in the, the behavior part. was a lack of respect versus really the content. Yeah, I get that. The conflict that's going on. Brian Milner (22:42) Yeah. The tip from the book you just mentioned kind of aligns also to something that's in this article, the Harvard Business Review article. One of the things it says is they have some tips in this as well. And one of the things they say is demand accountability every time. And I think that's a good kind of takeaway as well is they're specifically talking about these action items, things that we would do as a result. As a participant, think it's important to, I like that language, demand accountability. If we have this meeting, all right, what is it that you're hoping to get out of this? I'm showing up, I'm here, what do you need from me? What are we gonna do as a result of this? Any participant can ask that. Any participant can say, so that we don't just waste this time, what are we going to do next? Julie (23:11) Mm-hmm. Brian Milner (23:29) I think you demand accountability when you do that. Julie (23:33) Yeah, and I would say too, the first thing we should ask is what's the purpose of this meeting? And so if you go up to turn agendas into action plans, Jean taught us is you have a purpose statement. And then actually she taught us that what are the questions we need to answer in order to meet the purpose? Those are our agenda topics. When we've answered those questions, we're complete with this meeting. And then like where the Brian Milner (23:39) Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Julie (24:01) come back down here to make every minute count. Don't run over. Alex also gives some nice gentle waves of doing like we would say time check. We have 10 more minutes left. You could just put that in chat time check. We have 10 more minutes left. You don't have to be the facilitator to be like time check. So I do like that. He's helping people think about what they can do versus just being victim to Brian Milner (24:05) Yeah. Julie (24:29) the lack of facilitation. Brian Milner (24:31) Yeah. And as a participant, I can, I can check in at the start of the meeting and say, all right, just, want to, I want to, have a time box check here. Our meeting is scheduled from this time to this time. That's our time box, right? We can't, is there, or I have something right after this. just so you know, here's my time box. can't go further than this. and you know, I think as a participant, it's. Julie (24:46) Hmm. Brian Milner (24:56) you can have those same effects just like you said, hey, time box check, it's this, we got this much time left. And as a facilitator, I know I've reached the end of our time boxes sometimes when we haven't really gotten as far as I had hoped, but I've been okay saying this was a good start. This was a good start to what it is we need to decide. Obviously this is gonna take more time. We are at our time box, so we're gonna have to wrap this meeting up, but we'll schedule follow-ups and we'll take it from here. If I'm entering a meeting where I need a decision by the end of that time box, then by all means, make sure people are aware of that from the start. If I'm a participant or if I'm the facilitator, we're here together, but we all need to understand that we need to leave this with a decision on this. Julie (25:37) Yeah. So the other thing, Kia, I believe, around the decision is, and also be clear about how we're going to make the decision. So is this going to be a collaborative decision? We're all going to vote? Or are we getting, everyone going to give their opinion? Somebody else is going to make the decision? And then we'll check, like, how are we, how is the decision going to be made? So that's not a surprise as well. Brian Milner (25:50) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, extremely important. I know when I talk about in our product owner classes about doing things like buy a feature as a way to prioritize, one of the things I always try to say to the stakeholders is, hey, we're going to play by a feature, but this is no promise that this is going to be what the final prioritization is. You're helping me to prioritize, but I want to set the expectation. I have to take into account your opinions and other people's opinions and market factors and lots of other things. So make sure we're on the same page. We need to understand this is a component of the decision. I will make the final decision outside of this meeting, but I really appreciate the input and I need your input to help me make the decision. Julie (26:32) Right. Yeah, love that example. So moving down when they say press paw, how to recover how to press. Brian Milner (26:55) Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you find yourself having a hangover from one of these bad meetings, yeah. Julie (27:01) Well, even if it's a great meeting, I am a fan of Adam Grant and I can't like pull up the where he said it. And he said it someplace that the studies show that people actually need like 10 minutes between topics. So if you're going to finish a meeting, you should have at least 10 minutes before the next meeting to be able to. Brian Milner (27:19) Yeah. Julie (27:27) focus and reframe. So I also feel like sometimes these meetings are bad because people are rushing from meeting to meeting. They don't have time to take a bio break or get a bite to eat. So now they're hungry and all that kind of stuff. But we do this to people on a regular basis. Brian Milner (27:46) Yeah, yeah. But, and I agree with that. if it's a good meeting or a bad meeting, I'll find myself, because I work from home exclusively. Well, I shouldn't say exclusively. Sometimes I'll go and work on site with different companies. But when I'm working from home, I'll leave the meeting of something I've just talked about and I'll have to go get more tea or something. And there's a little decompression of, wow, let me kind of throw that off, right? Let me take a deep breath. And now I can reset and I'm ready for whatever the next thing is. But I find I do that kind of naturally and I can't imagine not doing it. I can't imagine kind of going one thing to the other all the time and never having that break. That would kill me. Yeah. Julie (28:31) It happens all the time. It happens all the time. back to meeting working agreements. That's another one that I suggest is people don't start like at the top or the bottom of the hour. Like they offset it a bit to build in breaks. But when you're setting that time box, you got to set, you got to leave space in your agenda time. You have to leave space in your time, your meeting time to close your meeting properly. Brian Milner (28:59) Yeah. Yeah. Julie (29:01) We don't think about how much time that takes either. So it all adds up for sure. Brian Milner (29:09) I like the idea too that they have in here of walking it off. I know just in my work history, kind of like the example I gave you, there have been times when I've been through meetings where I feel like, yeah, I just got to get this off of me. And I have taken... remember, know, in certain circumstances, I'm not a smoker at all, but I, I had, I've always had developers that smoke in some way, shape or form. I, I wouldn't be uncommon for me to go and just stand outside with them while they smoke. or I'll walk down to the corner and get a drink or something and come back. there's something about taking that walk, getting outside the office. or if I'm here working at home, you know, maybe I'll even just go take the dog for a quick walk around the block. And by the time I come back, that's such a good way to. just kind of let whatever that is go away and reset. Now I'm ready to do what I need to do next, but it all goes to know, eliminating that hangover effect that I might have that came from a bad meeting. Julie (30:12) Yeah, so another facilitation tip around that, especially if you've just done a big meeting, if you can, walk it off with someone else. But do it in a debrief way, like what did you learn? And so we would talk about walking the walls. If we're physically together, we have stuff all over, like grab a friend. Brian Milner (30:21) Mmm. Yeah. Julie (30:34) or grab something you don't usually talk to and then walk the walls, so to speak. So at the end of class when I do have enough time, I like them in their breakout rooms to just debrief each other. Like what are a few things you want to try and remember? Because we all remember different things. So there's different ways you can do it. The way they talk about walking it off is it Brian Milner (30:38) Yeah. Julie (31:01) to avoid the hangover, but hopefully we're gonna switch the culture and people are gonna have good meetings and they're gonna wanna talk about positive stuff at the end. I mean, there's both ways of thinking about that physically, I think. Brian Milner (31:13) Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Well, I hope people have gotten a lot of this. You know, we kind of debated, we do this? Should we talk about this? It's so close to kind of the last topic, but I do kind of see it as a part one and part two. You know, there is a part one of that that is, bad meetings sometimes are very much a cause and effect of not facilitating well. But I would hate for people to entirely think, well, it's just the facilitator. there are only one person in the room. And if all the other people think that's not really my responsibility and I don't really have a part to play in this, then the facilitator can only do so much. Julie (31:45) Yeah. Yeah, and depending on what type of meeting it is, like really big, significant, like quarterly planning meetings, then the facilitator needs to do more work, in my opinion, to set everybody up for success. So depending on the size, the length, the... Some meetings need more structure than others, but I agree that as participants, you gotta have accountability to and how it's going and do I need to be here? What's the purpose? If the purpose isn't introduced, then you would ask kindly, what's the purpose of the meeting? What are we trying to accomplish here? I'm just wondering, I'm just checking in. just, not like, the hell am doing here? Brian Milner (32:38) Right, right. Julie (32:39) was to make sure that I'm, you know, whatever. But I do like what Kate said. don't know. You should be able to ask the questions. You should be able to decline all of that. So here's what I'm thinking now, Brian. Another thing people could do, though, is if they start to pay attention to the cost. Brian Milner (32:44) Yeah. Julie (33:05) of being in meetings just through their own health and well-being, then yes, they can be proactive. They can learn a few tips from Alex, but then maybe they, even if they're not the Scrum Master or someone who would normally be assigned to becoming a facilitator, maybe they can get some of the facilitator training because... The training that Kate was talking about really is applicable to any kind of role. It doesn't have to be the scrum master or product owner or team lead or manager. It's really applicable to all people. And then the other thing too, if it's something that say you're in the developer level role, even if you're a business analyst, quality, whatever, quality engineer, whatever, and you wanna become a facilitator. get the training and see if you like it. Then you can kind of be stealth-like in there with, and I feel like that's some of the things Alex is trying to teach people as well. If you're going to be the facilitator or the participant, that there's ways that you can make a difference in a positive way. Brian Milner (33:59) Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely agree. agree. Well, this has been a great conversation. We got to have you on more often. So I apologize it's been so long, but I really appreciate you taking the time and bringing this topic up. And it's a great, great focus for us, I think. thanks for bringing it, Julie. Julie (34:21) Beautiful. Well, I don't have a meeting hangover, do you? Brian Milner (34:36) I do not. I feel great. I don't need to walk anything off right now. Awesome. There we go. I'm right there with you. All right. Thanks, Julie. Julie (34:39) Me either. I'll just go back to drinking tea. Okay. right. Thank you. Yep.
Brace Yourself for the Decoding of Private Thoughts by Consumer Gadgets - Everyday devices like headphones and watches could soon interpret your brain activity and inner experiences. Nita A. Farahany, author of "The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology," unveils the remarkable potential and alarming risks of this emerging neurotechnology. Get ready to rethink assumptions!You can find Nita at: Website | LinkedIn | Episode TranscriptIf you LOVED this episode you'll also love the conversations we had with Adam Grant about rethinking.Check out our offerings & partners: Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the WheelVisit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode Highlights:[00:12] The Power of Passion ProjectsBrook shares how revisiting a long-shelved book project reignited his creativity and focus—reminding us all that when passion calls, it's time to go all in.[02:07] The Science of Giving: Why Altruism Leads to SuccessRyan dives into research from Adam Grant, revealing that while pure givers might not always be top sales performers, they create environments that dramatically outperform teams with a transactional mindset.[05:45] Are We Born to Win but Programmed to Fail?Brook unpacks a thought-provoking insight from The 490 Formula—how we're naturally equipped for success but conditioned by society to think small and settle for less.[07:05] The Timeless Truth of Staying in the GameRyan reflects on a classic quote from Confucius: “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” The key to success isn't speed—it's relentless persistence.[09:11] A Sold-Out Event and What's NextAs Profitable Coach Live kicks off in Florida, Ryan and Brook share their excitement, reflect on past event growth, and announce the waitlist for the next event in Vail, CO, June 5-7.Links Mentioned:Profitable Coach Live – Vail, CO (June 5-7, 2025)Get on the waitlist: profitablecoachlive.com/waitlist
It's a new Well-being podcast from Audible hosted by Chrissy Teigen. Throughout the series, Chrissy explores the cutting edge of personal development with some of the world's leading experts and authors in the wellness space. In this episode, psychologist and author of Hidden Potential, Adam Grant, inspires Chrissy to rethink how persistence, mentorship, and embracing discomfort can unlock hidden greatness.You can find Self-Conscious with Chrissy Teigen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or head to audible.com/Chrissypodcast to find out more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Status and power are major players in our work life and understanding how each works and how each can create more ease, meaning and joy in our work lives is a game changer. SHOW NOTES Status is everywhere, whether we acknowledge it or not. It's reflected in whether we are acknowledged in a meeting, how fast our emails get answered, or whether we are invited - really anywhere. Unlike power, which controls resources (think money, hiring decisions, or influence), status is all about perception—how others value us. And the kicker? We can't just take status; it's earned (and re-earned) through the judgments of those around us. Power is something given to you (and probably because of our status), unless of course you stage a coup, which is tricky in the workplace. :-) But here's where it gets tricky: women face the likability bind—the frustrating double standard that says we can be warm or assertive, but not both. Allison Fragale discusses her book, Likable Badass on Work Life with Adam Grant. She shares how women often self-sabotage by downplaying success, rejecting compliments, or apologizing unnecessarily. The key to breaking free? We build status by owning our story, being bold about our ambitions and letting others see what's possible through our confidence. So, how do we build status? Two drivers lead the way: competence and care. Competence is about doing good work, and also conducting ourselves in a way that inspires confidence in our competence. We do this by showing up, adding value, and not being afraid to contribute our talents. Have we made a commitment to be aware of where we can add value in the workplace? Do our coworkers and bosses trust us to do what we say we will do and do it well? Care is about earning respect and influence through authenticity and generosity. We are women - of course we know what “care” is - well, mostly anyway (and kudos to those of us who live a little more free in this area). Care is sharing credit, lifting others up, being generous, seeing other people, doing something extra (selectively), letting others know we know the importance of our work and our commitment to that work. As we show up and do our work with competence and care, we build status. And status is what elevates us in the minds of others and leads to more opportunity and reward. As we manage our status, we need to think of these two elements - competence and care and how we create that in the workplace. Managing our status is about presenting our authentic self at work - it is not about being something you are not. Listen in on how to manage your status . . . Worklife with Adam Grant Likable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve by Allison Fagale
What's on your mind, unicorn?
As a public intellectual, activist and professor at Smith College, Loretta Ross is no stranger to confrontation and debate. But years of working to change the minds of others have led her to rethink her own ideas about approaching difficult conversations. Loretta and Adam discuss why shaming rarely changes behavior and her powerful alternative to cancel culture. They also reflect on personal moments of confrontation and explore strategies for talking others out of hate. Available transcripts for ReThinking can be found at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, we break down key insights from Spotter Summit, including Kevin Hart's top advice for creators, what creators can take from Beast Games, and major trends shaping 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What do the most powerful people in the world do after they've achieved success? Jared Cohen is a history buff and a presidential historian. His latest book, “Life After Power,” is a fascinating exploration about what seven American presidents did after leaving the most influential job in the world. In this episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, Adam and Jared discuss the psychology of the founding fathers, debate the pros and cons of pursuing a legacy, and share what these historic figures can teach us all about pursuing and finding purpose. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts For more, follow ReThinking with Adam Grant wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alguna vez has sentido que podrías dar más de ti, pero algo te detiene? En este episodio, exploramos la ciencia detrás de desbloquear nuestro verdadero potencial con el bestseller "Hidden Potential" de Adam Grant.Descubre cómo: ✔ El talento con el que naces es solo el punto de partida, no el destino final. Lo que realmente importa es cómo entrenas tus habilidades con el tiempo. ✔ Tu entorno puede impulsarte hacia la excelencia o mantenerte en la mediocridad. Aprende a diseñar tu contexto para un crecimiento acelerado. ✔ La práctica deliberada, no solo el esfuerzo, es el verdadero secreto de los altos performers. ✔ Un simple cambio de mentalidad puede transformar la forma en que aprendes y progresas.En este episodio analizo Potencial Oculto (Hidden Potential, 2023) de Adam Grant. Ya sea que quieras despegar en tu carrera, dominar una nueva habilidad o simplemente convertirte en la mejor versión de ti mismo, este episodio te dará herramientas practicas basadas en evidencia para lograrlo.
Everything is in flux. Nothing is the same anymore. How do we live amid all of this uncertainty? Well, psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant believes we may have to do some re-thinking. In this episode, Kate and Adam speak about the courage it takes to think again about things that we once felt so certain about, how “imposter syndrome” might be a good instinct, and how we all need friends who challenge us (even if it makes us wildly uncomfortable… thanks a lot, Adam!). Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts. Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amy kicks things off with the ‘First Stall Theory’—something to keep in mind next time you’re in a public restroom and then Kat shares a quote from Adam Grant about making major life decisions based on values rather than fleeting emotions. Other highlights include a listener update from Taylor, Kate Winslet’s wise advice on aging (don’t forget the back of your hands!), an update on Amy’s face fitness journey, book recommendations (Fourth Wing, November 9th, and Daisy Darker), and an impromptu chat about Ryan Reynolds mentally spiraling. Call us: 877-207-2077 Email: 4ThingsWithAmyBrown@gmail.com HOSTS: Amy Brown // RadioAmy.com // @RadioAmy Kat Vanburen // @KatVanburen // @YouNeedTherapyPodcast // YouNeedTherapyPodcast.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Each Sunday, TED shares an episode of another podcast we think you'll love, handpicked for you… by us. Sam Altman is the CEO and cofounder of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. In this episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, Sam and Adam discuss AI's advances in creativity and empathy, its ethical challenges, and the role of human oversight. They also discuss strategies for adapting to a changing world and their hopes for technology that enhances human progress while maintaining human values. If you like it, find more deep conversations with great thinkers on ReThinking with Adam Grant wherever you get your podcasts.Available transcripts for ReThinking can be found at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.