Podcasts about Brad Swanson

Join Brian Milner as he talks with leadership expert Christopher DiBella about mastering the art of influencing without authority. Learn how to lead with respect, empathy, and compassion to inspire your team, even when you don’t hold the official title. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian interviews Christopher DiBella, an expert in leadership and organizational development, about the power of influencing without authority. They explore how Agile leaders, especially Scrum Masters, can effectively guide teams and influence organizational culture through respect, empathy, and compassion. Chris shares practical strategies for building trust, navigating generational differences, and leading through relationships rather than formal authority. The discussion also emphasizes the critical importance of understanding the motivations and needs of others to achieve lasting influence. Whether you're an Agile coach, Scrum Master, or organizational leader, this episode provides actionable advice for leading in a way that inspires collaboration and growth. References and resources mentioned in the show: Christopher DiBella The Leadership Survival Guide: A Blueprint for Leading with Purpose and Impact by Christopher DiBella, PH.D. #37 Servant Leadership, Not Spineless Leadership with Brad Swanson #70 The Role of a Leader in Agile with Mike Cohn #109 Leadership and Culture in DevOps with Claire Clark Short Answers to Big Questions About Agile Leaders by Mike Cohn Certified ScrumMaster® Training and Scrum Certification Certified Scrum Product Owner® Training Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner® Advanced Certified ScrumMaster® Mike Cohn’s Better User Stories Course Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule Join the Agile Mentors Community 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. Christopher DiBella is a leadership coach dedicated to empowering aspiring leaders by teaching influential leadership practices that streamline processes and maximize potential. As the founder of the Institute of Leadership Coaching and Development, Chris is committed to helping others lead with respect, empathy, and compassion to build engaged, high-performing teams. Auto-generated Transcript: Brian (00:00) Welcome in Agile Mentors. We're back for another episode of the Agile Mentors podcast. I'm with you as always, Brian Milner. And today I have a very special guest with me. I have Mr. Chris DiBella with us. Welcome in, Chris. Chris (00:13) Thanks so much, Brian. I appreciate you guys having me. Brian (00:15) Absolutely. We're very excited to have Chris on. Chris, if you're not familiar with Chris and his work, just a brief little introduction here for you. Chris has an MBA in project management. has a PhD in organizational leadership. He's an author and speaker. He's the founder of something called, actually founder and president, excuse me, of the Institute of Leadership, Coaching and Development. And he has a book that should be out right about now while you're listening to this called the leadership survival guide quotes to keep you from going extinct as a leader. So very, very interesting title there. I can't wait to read that. That sounds amazing. But the reason we wanted to have Chris on was one of the topics that Chris focuses on and talks about from time to time is the topic of influencing without authority. And I thought that's really, really interesting in the Agile world and how that relates to things like Scrum Masters and how we work within the organization and stuff. So let's start there, Chris. Let's just talk about where that, what does that title mean to you influencing without authority? Where did that come from? How did that enter your sphere? Chris (01:27) Well, I mean, for the last couple of years, it's a topic that's just been gaining a lot of momentum within the workplace. I guess the easiest way for me to describe the topic is to say that influencing without authority is simply the ability to motivate others to get them to take your direction. But we all know that the real world doesn't work that way. And it's not so easy to get people on board with our ideas and thought processes. So we just need to be more methodical in our approach. when it comes to influencing others. And it's more important now, particularly because when dealing with the different generational and personal generational differences and personalities in the workplace. Brian (02:06) I'm kind of curious how you define that difference. What does influencing with authority look like? What does influencing without authority look like? Chris (02:18) So they kind of both the same. think people sometimes fail to realize that influence is what actually provides power, right? And not authority. So they both kind of fall on the same lines for me. So when you're trying to influence others, you got to remember that with or without authority, you're trying to get somebody, you're persuading somebody, recently you're coercing them to try to get onto your thought process. So you just got to remember that. When you're dealing with them, that you have the capacity to impact what happens next in their lives. Their lives, sorry, not lives. like you have the ability to shape their actions and their behaviors and their opinions, but you also have the ability to have an effect on their character or their continued development. Right. And kind of adding a little bit more to that question is Ken Blanchard, said that the key to successful leadership in today's workplace is influence and not authority. So for someone to be an influential leader, they just need to learn the skills of confidence and clarity and communication. So that to me implies that even if you're not in a formal position of authority, you can still have an influence on those around you. So it's kind of just bouncing off. You know, there's a thin line of with or without authority. It's just understanding people and understanding how to get the best out of them. And you don't need to be called leader or manager to get that out of people. Brian (03:48) I'm kind of curious because especially with your background in project management, kind of more traditional project management, how does that play in project management? I mean, I've gotten in trouble sometimes in talking in class about this issue because I've, know, in my work history, my experience with traditional project management was very much one of... authority. was very much that that person who was the project manager, basically there was a date, a set of work that we're trying to accomplish. it seemed as if the project manager's job was to kind of drive the team, push the team, be the parent of the team, and make sure that they come in on time, on scope, on budget. How does the project management community in today's environment see this dichotomy between leading with influence or with authority. Chris (04:50) So that's a great question because I think, can I even touch on Scrum teams with this? Cause, cause I think they're, kind of go hand in hand for me. Right. and I, you know, from, if we use project management or Scrum teams as an example, right. No one, even as a project manager, right. No one has any real form of authority on the people side of things. Project managers really are just people put in place just to get things done. Right. They don't, they don't have an official title to get things done. Right. So it can be argued that. Brian (04:54) Yeah, yeah, yeah, please. Chris (05:20) while these individuals on a Scrum team or a project management team have no formal authority at all, that they're still ultimately responsible for project outcomes, right? Or it can be argued that an authority is inherently given to them based on their ability to act on behalf of all those objectives. Right. But the bigger point for me is that if there's no formal authority given, this could just limit the influence that someone has on the people in the processes side. Right. But that doesn't mean that you still can't be an effective leader who others look to. And this type of authority is based more on who you are as a person and how you treat others, as opposed to simply being viewed by that title that you possess. So I think there's there's a very strong connection there between Scrumteam and project managers. Brian (06:04) Yeah, I mean, it's a tricky thing because I mean, I think about this, like a lot of things, I'll make sports analogies and how I think about these relationships. And when I think about like the coach of a team, the coach can't make the players perform better. It has to be their own personal decision to do what they need to do. But on the other hand, we definitely hold the coach accountable if the team isn't doing well. And it seems almost like slightly unfair, you know, to think about this, that I can't really, I don't really have the authority to make that person do something. I have to, as we said, influence them to do it. Chris (06:50) So can I touch on that real quick? Cause you brought up a great analogy that I like to talk about from coaching perspective. So I used to coach soccer and if I start rambling, just tell me to shut up, but I'm licensed to coach up to a college level, right? But I always opted to coach at about the 12 and 13 year age group for boys and girls. And I chose this age group because I believe that this is just where I could have the most influence on them in their development and in their soccer growth, right? Brian (06:59) You Chris (07:20) The high school level and college level, they could still learn, but they've already got it in there at that age, right? They they've already established who they are on the field, their own identity, right? And they have a good enough skillset to go out there and play the game. But I wanted to be a part of getting them to that point. So I decided that coaching at a younger age group would just give me a better opportunity to mold those players into those high school and college athletes. And anyone listening to this with kids understands. how much influence we have on them at that age. But we also know how difficult it is to effectively influence them in a way that allows them to develop into their own person. So whether we're coaching 12 and 13 year olds, or if we're trying to coach and mentor our peers or our followers, there are just a lot of similar attributes that can be used to influence others to get them to achieve their goals and their successes and those outcomes. Brian (08:11) Yeah. Yeah, I completely agree. you know, it kind of, it kind of brings to mind the, mean, we've talked, we talked a little bit about project managers, but, and, and touched a little bit on Scrum teams, but you know, that, that relationship with a, a, a Scrum master, think is also really interesting to consider in light of this, because I know one of the phrases that we use as trainers a lot when we talk about the Scrum master is a Scrum master leads through influence, not authority. And that that's kind of a defining characteristic of what a scrum master does. What does that mean to you? Because I know you speak about scrum as well and you have a lot of knowledge in this area. So how does that translate into the role a scrum master would play? Chris (08:58) So if you take it from a Scrum Master perspective, right? mean, that's kind of positional influence, right? So that can come from someone's job title or depending on the hierarchical level of that role, you know, that can have an effect on how influence is also portrayed, either positively or negatively. So whether you're a Scrum Master or some other form of positional leader, it just means that you're followed by other people. So how you choose to impact their life. from an influential aspect will determine the level of followership that you're able to acquire from them. Right. And then kind of going along with that, again, you know, there's really no formal authority in that role, but the influence can stem from expertise and just being competent. Right. That provides you with the background and the experience needed to be recognized for people to go to you for that advice, the leadership advice. But if you also have the available resources that your team needs and you know how to acquire them as well as deploy them, then you're going to have an impact on their success as well, right? If you have the necessary tools to provide them, that's also going to increase the likelihood of them trusting in you as those relationships are developed because that's really what influence is. It's about building relationships and developing those bonds, you know, and then influence. The biggest thing for me with influence is being direct and transparent in your approach. Whether you're a scrum master, project manager, anybody with or without authority, if you're direct and you're transparent and you seem genuine to people and you have a firm, a fair, and a professional tone, that's just going to let other people know that you can be counted on, right? And that you genuinely have their best interests at heart. So that's kind of where earned influence will begin to develop. Brian (10:50) Yeah. You know, I, there's a, there's a kind of aspect of this I try to draw out too, when we talk about this in class and that influence, as you said, trust relationship, right? It takes, it takes investment. It's not, influence doesn't come instantaneously. When you think about just in general in your life, the people who influenced you. Right, to use that word influence, that's a shift, that's a big shift. And when you think about the people that influence you versus the people who tell you what to do. And from my perspective, most of the people I would say, yeah, I'm heavily influenced by this or by that. It generally comes from the fact that I have, even if they're a public figure, even if it's, know, you know, Simon Sinek or Gary Vanderchuck, you know, I would say they influenced me not because I just heard one quote, but because I've consistently heard what they speak on and consistently say, yeah, I'm aligned to that. And this is really influencing the way I think about stuff. So how would you advise, especially someone like a scrum master, you know, if they say, yeah, I want to lead through influence, not authority, but... I've got a job to do. How do they start paving that road so that the influence is invited? Chris (12:26) Yeah. I love the Gary V shout out because I love Gary. He swears a lot like I do. So I'm actually being pretty good right now. I mean, I guess the first question to ask is, you know, when you think of the term influencer leadership, not for you, but in general, like when you think about it, what's the first thing that comes to mind, right? What are you hoping to get or achieve through that influence? Are you trying to get people on the same wavelength as you? Are you doing it only to get people to see things your way? Brian (12:28) You Yeah. Chris (12:54) Or are you doing it to expand their perceptions and their realizations? Right. And again, there's often the assumption that if someone doesn't have authority, then they don't, or they can't have any influence. Right. And this goes back to with or without authority, but even with formal authority, it's still possible not to have any influence. Right. Influencing without authority begins with first identifying where that influence comes from. And then looking at how others perceive your level of influence. So. regardless of where that influence comes from, you still just need to build those relationships on that platform of trust and respect if you want to have those successful results achieved. It's tricky though, because depending on where that influence comes from, that's what's going to help to guide and even determine how those relationships and those bonds progress. Brian (13:40) So that kind of leads to the area of thinking about, if a Scrum Master is going to do that, we can kind of see how that fits in. And one of the things that I hear quite often with people in the classes is, especially when we come upon the section where we talk about Scrum Masters having an influence in the organization, that we have a responsibility to help the organization. understand Scrum and to get the benefits of Scrum. There's often a double take when that happens and the students in class think, well, I don't understand how can I do that? I'm not the CEO. I'm not a manager. I'm a Scrum master. How am I going to be able to change the culture? How am I going to be able to influence what the leadership thinks? about this stuff. What kind of advice would you give from that perspective? Chris (14:42) Well, much like I kind of take the leadership perspective, there's no one size fits all, right? To this and influence the same way. Sorry. Influencing is the same way. So there's different approaches that you can take to influencing, right? There's rational approaches where you kind of legitimize the use of like fact -based logic to influence others, right? And you could use within that rational influencing, you could use exchanging, right? As a form of bartering or trading where you do something for someone and they gives you something in return, right? Give and take. And that builds trust levels, but it's also an effective approach since each party is still committed to achieving that common goal. In addition to the rational, right? Again, different, different approaches that you can take social approaches, right? Think about the breakfast club, right? The movie, the breakfast club. Sure. Everybody who's listening to that. to this has seen that movie, right? To me, this is the perfect analogy for trying to influence somebody from a social perspective, because that movie just embodies the epitome of social approaches to influencing. If you think about it, you got five high school kids in detention from completely different backgrounds, right? And they're trying to outsmart their lesson inspiring principle. So they're essentially forced to have to work with one another to achieve that common goal. So when you socialize, That's essential when it comes to building that relationship and that trust, but that also helps to appeal to those relationships as those bonds are developed. Right. And then you kind of use consulting, which helps just to deliver like a collaborative working relationship that not only produces those results, but that also improves the dynamic and the relationships and the culture of the team and the organization. Right. And then if you add onto that, like in the movie, you know, that's just going to lead to the Alliance building, which kind of is like the creation of a team structure that'll enhance the growth and development of everyone involved. So I don't, you know, then there's also emotional approaches. There's what I call the dark side approach, which I don't recommend because it's, always think Darth Vader, right? The dark side, you, you lead by avoiding issues with your followers or your teams, right? You want to manipulate and you want to intimidate and you want to threaten, but those only serve the need of the person trying to get what they want. Right now. Brian (16:42) Hahaha Chris (17:00) Kind of be an effective way to get results, to get results. Sure. To influence others and build relationships. Absolutely not. Brian (17:09) Yeah, fear leads to anger, right? Right, exactly. Yeah, Chris, you are speaking my language, talking about breakfast club, 80s movies and Star Wars. I come on, this is my wheelhouse here. Yeah, no, I agree. it's, you have that great example. I'm gonna go into the analogy here. Chris (17:12) It does, know, resentment, you know, it's... huh. Bye! Brian (17:38) You have that great example with that principal or vice principal, whatever position he had, that he came in with the authority figure approach. I'm in charge, you are underneath me, you will do what I say during this time. And it wasn't, hey, let's get through this, let's figure out the best way to make the Saturday go by. It was very much, are in need of my My heavy -handed approach otherwise you're gonna go off the rails and You know, there was no respect there was no relationship there It was it was purely, you know prison guard kind of mentality and you know, there's a There's an example. I always think back to You know, I played football in my high school days. I didn't I played some football I didn't I didn't play all the way through high school, but I played some football. So if anyone happens to be from my high school, no, I did not play my whole high school career. I know that I'm admitting it. Okay. But I remember, you know, for most of my football career, which was very short, I had coaches that were all of one type, which was the screaming head, right? They were the person that would yell at you and chew you out and try to motivate you in that way. Chris (18:35) you Brian (19:05) but I had one coach and he was the last coach that I had who was the head coach of our team. And he was a very soft spoken, quiet man. And I remember him in one practice pulling me aside and saying, hey, look, you're gonna have to do it this way. You're not gonna be able to do it this way. It's not gonna work. If you wanna be successful with this, this is what you're gonna have to do. And I just remember in that moment that I... paid more attention in that moment to anything anyone had ever tried to coach me in the past. And I remember feeling earnestly this desire that I want to please this man. Like I really want this guy to think highly of me and I want to give him my best. over the years since that moment, I've thought back to it lot and thought, that's a clear contrast. since the majority are the other way, that that one person who took this different approach really had this different impression on me of, yeah, this is, and to me that was a great example of leadership. Chris (20:17) Yeah. It's funny. Like you mentioned that when you had that cool, calm and collected approach, right? But that can also kind of be taken the other direction. And the first thing I think about with that kind of approach in a negative way is, Bill Lumberg office space, right? Right. Yeah. If you guys can just come in and come in on Saturday or Sunday, blah, blah, blah. Right. So again, so like that type of leader and, know, to stand on the negative, cause I like to focus on negative stuff because it kind of gets people thinking about what not to do. Brian (20:31) Yeah. Okay? Yeah. Chris (20:45) So like that type of leader, you know, they focused on that power, that title to impose their will on others. Right? So like you had what sounded like an influential kind of perspective from that cool, common, collected tone. Bill Longberg was cool, common, collected, but he was just a jerk. I'll say it without swearing. He was just a jerk. Right. But it's when we're at moving into a position of leadership or someone who wants to influence others. Right. It's we look at people like that and they, it's. Brian (21:02) Yeah. Chris (21:15) They look to lead from a place of authoritarian status, right? Again, the, my way or the highway approach, but this may stand from two different schools of thought, right? Because either it's the only way they've been taught to lead others or it's to intimidate others into submission. And I'll be completely honest with this by my own admission, I was that type of leader when I took on my first leadership role. Right. I'm Gen X. I had observed this leadership mentality throughout my early career. And I just assume that that was the attitude that got others to follow direction and achieve results. And it wasn't until that I realized this approach was not in fact effective and that there didn't need to be a brutish mentality, but I just needed to transform my mindset and adapt to the individual needs of each person on my team so that I could figure out how to get the best and the most out of them. So it's a learning curve. I mean, you're not going to get it the first time you get put into a position of leadership or the first time that you're tasked to influence people, right? You're not going to know what to do. But our leaders that we grew up with are going to be a huge inspiration. And I always tell anybody, no matter what, you can be an authoritarian leader or you can be a transformation leader. You are a person of influence, no matter what you do. And I always say that anybody in a company can be a person of influence. But if you're tasked with that, if you, you're given that role, whether you want it or not, you are a person of influence and you're going to have an effect on someone's character or continued development. whether that's good or bad. It's up to us as we evolve and we mature and we grow and we develop to figure out the good from the bad and figure out how to move forward in a positive, more positive direction to get the best out of the people that we're now influencing and that we're leading. Brian (22:54) Yeah. Yeah. It's such an interesting dynamic because I think you're right. There's authority that people have sometimes that just is sort of a natural thing. This is a very loose analogy, but I know I've been involved with groups of people who are tasked with doing something kind of ad hoc things thrown together for volunteer things or whatever, kind of things where you're not really in an organizational structure. but a group of people come together to do something. Maybe it's in a class or whatever. you know, sometimes you have that one person in the group that, sort of starts a little bit to be the leader of the group. And I've been in the case where the person sort of takes leadership, right? Where they, kind of try to, to just grasp it and control it and tell people what to do. But I've also been in a situation where that person sort of just emerges and the rest of the team is not reluctant to follow them. They're actually thankful that they have someone that can lead and guide them. And there've been occasions when I've been in those situations where that one jerk in the group will speak and say, hey, well, who made you boss? again, I understand if the person really is being bossy. But I've been in situations where the person's not being bossy and someone has said that, and the rest of the group actually turns hostile on that person. Because they're like, what are you talking about? They're doing what we need someone to do. And they just naturally kind of float into that. So I always think about that when I think about when people ask, how am I going to influence this organization when I don't have any authority in the organization? Well, leadership isn't about a title. It's about a how you approach things, right? Chris (24:53) Not anymore. used to be about a title, but it's not in today's workplace. It's just not, you know, again, I grew up in a different time where it was pull up your big boy pants, do your job. You know, my boss could talk to me any way they wanted. I wasn't going to take offense to it. wasn't going to take three days off to have a safe space. You can edit that out if you want, but I, you know, I just, you know, but it kind of speak adding onto what you just said about that, right? You had somebody who wanted to take that charge, but you had somebody else who wanted to. Brian (25:10) Yep. No, no, no. Chris (25:23) you know, who made you boss, right? So how do you influence through tension and conflict? Right? Because if you have somebody who wants to take the reins, but you have somebody combating them, now you're going to, it's going to create, somebody outwardly speaks against that person, that's going to create that tension. Right? So, you know, it comes down to like, how do you influence others when you don't agree with their choices or how they approach things in an influential. approach, right? Particularly when it comes again to those cultural and those generational differences. Right. And this is going to sound harsh, but how do you influence people when you just don't like them? Right. We don't like everybody that we work with. Right. And you're going to have to work with these people. And if you expect to be a person of influence, you got to suck it up and you just got to figure out how to get the best and the most out of them. Right. So again, it's during those times, right? It's just important to identify why it is that you want to influence people in the first place. Brian (25:59) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's why I'm glad that like a scrum value is not like everyone on your team, right? I mean, it's respect and you should have respect for people even if they have a difference of opinion with you, which we were talking about this a little bit before we started, just the idea that, you know, we can exchange ideas and we can have a difference of opinion on ideas. That's not a problem, right? That's just trying to figure out the best idea. We're challenging the idea to see which one is the best approach. It's only when that becomes a personal thing, when it starts to become about the person, not the idea, that's when it's, well, that's when it turns into a destructive conflict. Chris (27:04) Yeah, it's, you I always like to say, think leadership or influence comes down to three simple words. Respect, empathy, compassion. If you can figure out how to master those three words, which I think it's virtually impossible to master them. But if you could figure out how to have some sort of ability to figure out how to use those words, you can lead anybody. Right? It doesn't matter. As long as you can have respect for them, show empathy, put yourself in their shoes for why they might be feeling a certain way. and have compassion for why they feel that way. Try to understand where they're coming from. Brian (27:37) That's awesome. I love that. Respect, empathy, compassion. I think that's a great place to end it. So Chris, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with us on this. And just again, I'll mention this in the outro, but look for Chris's book that's out now, Leadership Survival Guide Quotes to Keep You from Going Extinct as a Leader. So Chris, thank you so much for coming on. Chris (28:03) Awesome, man, I appreciate you having me. It was fun.

Embark on a captivating journey through the Agile Mentors Podcast in 2023 with Brian Milner. Explore a spectrum of Agile topics, from Scrum Master challenges to leadership insights. Join Brian for insightful summaries, memorable moments, and a walk through the rich tapestry of Agile wisdom on the show. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian embarks on a retrospective journey through the standout moments of the podcast in 2023. Explore carefully curated episodes, offering solutions to the common challenges and then delving into the world of Agile beyond software development. Listen in as Brian shares insightful summaries featuring memorable moments and a diverse landscape of Agile wisdom shared by his esteemed guests. Categorized into topics like Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Developers, Agile’s use beyond software, general career advice, and leadership and coaching, this retrospective is a treasure trove of practical advice, actionable insights, and real-world experiences. Tune in for an inspiring tour through the rich tapestry of the Agile Mentors Podcast 2023 episodes. Listen Now to Discover: [01:16] - Brian introduces the episode and invites listeners to join him in a retrospective of the year's episodes, highlighting ones that may have been missed or are hidden gems worth revisiting, which he will group by listener preferences and areas of interest. [02:39] - For Scrum Masters: Brian begins discussing the first episodes tailored for Scrum Masters, kicking things off with #47, "Exploring Lean Thinking and Agile Development," featuring guest Bob Payne, who shares insights into lean thinking, a foundational principle in agile development. Brian recommends this episode for Scrum Masters aiming to enhance their understanding of Agile's fundamentals. [03:34] - Episode #52, "The Birth of Agile: How 17 Adventurous Techies Changed the World," features Agile icon Mr. Jim Highsmith, one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto. Jim provides a glimpse into the past and offers insights into the future of Agile. [04:06] - Episode #59, "Revising the Scrum Guide," features Don McGreal, who played a key role in the guide's revision, shedding light on the thinking behind the revisions. [05:31] - In Episode #62, "Effective Sprint Goals," Maarten Dalmijn delves into effective crafting techniques and the finer details of achieving success with Sprint Goals. [06:12] - In Episode #69, "Should Scrum Masters Be Technical with Allison Pollard," Allison and Brian explore the question of whether Scrum Masters should possess technical skills. If you grapple with how technical a Scrum Master should be, this episode provides valuable insights and perspectives. [06:51] - In Episode #39, Mike Cohn, an authority on user stories, shares valuable insights into the art of crafting effective user stories. [07:15] - In Episode #65 with Randy Hale titled "Unlocking Lean Portfolio Management," Brian and Randy explore the concept of moving beyond a single-team focus as a product owner, delving into the realm of lean portfolio management building upon insights shared by Bob in episode #47. [07:50] - For Product Owners: Must listen bonus from last year, Episode #22, with Roman Pichler, who shares his insights on "How to Create Helpful Product Roadmaps," addressing challenges commonly faced by product owners in dealing with the nuanced aspects of their role. The episode covers strategies to avoid pitfalls, especially the dangers of rigidly locking into scope and schedule timelines. [08:54] - For Developers: Episode #33, "Mob Programming with Woody Zuill," introduces developers to the transformative practice of mob programming. Woody Zuill, a pioneer in this way of working, shares insights and a practical and thoughtful approach that makes it worth exploring. [10:00] - In Episode #48, Brian hosts a unique episode featuring the renowned Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory, experts in Agile testing, in a show called "Holistic Agile Testing." This episode is particularly recommended for developers specializing in testing or involved in testing within a Scrum team. [11:00] - In Episode #54, "Unlocking Agile's Power in the World of Data Science," Brian and Lance Dacy explore the intersection of Agile methodologies and data science. The popularity of this episode prompted a sequel, Episode #63, on the fusion of Agile and data science. [11:58] - In the final developer-focused episode, Carlos Nunez joins Brian to delve into the world of DevOps. Carlos, a speaker at Agile 2023, shares insights on the significance of DevOps in today's Agile landscape, emphasizing DevOps as a means of empowerment rather than gatekeeping. [12:38] - Agile Outside of Software: Episode #32 with Cort Sharp focuses on Scrum in High School Sports—specifically high school swimming. Cort shares his experience applying Scrum principles to create practice schedules and routines for the swim team he coaches, providing valuable insights for those interested in using Agile beyond the software realm. [13:24] - In #38: "Using Agile for Social and Societal Transformation with Kubair Shirazee," Kubair walks listeners through how his nonprofit employs Agile methodologies to empower micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries. The episode highlights success stories, such as a barber's journey from a rented spot to owning a professional store, demonstrating Agile's transformative impact beyond the tech industry. [14:40] - Episode #45 with Scott Dunn explores "Overcoming Agile Challenges in Regulatory Environments." This crucial topic addresses the unique challenges faced in tightly regulated sectors like government, legal, and medical professions, offering a compelling dialogue on navigating regulatory hurdles within an agile framework. [16:00] - Episode #64 features John Grant discussing "How Agile Methodologies Reshape Legal Practices." This episode reveals the transformative impact of Agile in the legal profession and offers a unique perspective on Agile as a philosophy rather than just a practice, illustrating its broader applicability beyond the software realm. [17:00] - Today's episode is brought to you by Mountain Goat Software's Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) course. This is a two-day training course taught by one of our certified Scrum trainers that teaches you how to use the product backlog as a tool for project success and how to respond to changes in business conditions by restructuring the product backlog. For the schedule, visit the Mountain Goat Training Schedule. [17:27] - General Career Advice: #34: "I'm Trained, Now What? with Julie Chickering" addresses the post-training phase for Scrum Masters and Product Owners. Julie shares insights on taking the next steps, implementing knowledge, and finding opportunities to build a resume in Agile roles. [18:29] - In #40: "Is it Time to Go Out on Your Own? Tips and Insights with Chris Li" Brian and Chris Li discuss considerations for those at later stages of their careers contemplating the transition to independent consulting. If you're pondering whether it's time to establish your consultancy, this episode provides valuable insights and considerations to guide your decision-making process. [19:00] - In #42: "The Importance of Self-Mastery with Bob Galen," Bob emphasizes the value of constant learning, even after years of experience, highlighting the importance of staying open to new discoveries and others' experiences. This episode serves as a compelling guide for personal growth and continuous improvement. [20:28] - Episode #46 with Christina Ambers: In this episode, Christina shares insights on "How to Assess Company Culture Before Accepting a Job Offer." As the year closes and people consider new job opportunities, Christina guides listeners through the crucial step of evaluating company culture and the importance of understanding if a company truly embraces Agile values or merely pays lip service to them. [21:14] - Episode #50 celebrated the milestone of the 50th episode. Lance Dacy was on the show to discuss "Choosing Your Path: Exploring the Roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner." The episode offers guidance for individuals at crossroads, helping them decide between Scrum Master and Product Owner roles. It serves as a valuable resource for those navigating career decisions in the Agile landscape. [22:13] - Leadership and Coaching: In the Leadership and Coaching category, Episode #37 features Brad Swanson discussing "Servant Leadership, Not Spineless Leadership." Brad dispels misconceptions and offers valuable insights into the essence of servant leadership, making it a compelling resource for those interested in effective leadership approaches. [23:28] - In Episode 41, Karim Harbott explores "Cultural Transformations in Organizations." The episode delves into the challenges of changing organizational culture, emphasizing the time and effort required beyond implementing specific practices. [24:00] - In "#44: Transformations Take People with Anu Smalley", Anu highlights the often-overlooked aspect of involving people in organizational transformations, shedding light on the human dynamics that can either support or hinder the process. [24:35] - In Episode #53, "Debunking Myths in Agile Coaching with Lucy O'Keefe," we tackle the common myths surrounding Agile coaching and provide insights on unlocking excellence in Agile coaching practices. [25:01] - Episode #66 is a solo episode where Brian shares his insights into navigating team conflicts, laying the foundation for understanding and mastering the essential skill of conflict navigation. [26:00] - In Episode #68, Brian hosts Mike Hall for a discussion of "The Pros and Cons and Real-World Applications of SAFe." Whether you're new to SAFe or deeply involved, Mike's expertise provides valuable perspectives and tips for navigating this framework. [26:42] - In Episode #70, Mike Cohn joins Brian to explore "The Role of a Leader in Agile." Here, Mike shares valuable insights based on his extensive experience, offering sound advice and perspective on the crucial role of leaders in self-organizing teams. [28:10] - Brian encourages listeners, especially newcomers, to explore relevant episodes based on their roles, with the goal being to offer practical advice and solutions on specific issues rather than lengthy discussions. All episodes are available in the show notes for convenient access. [29:33] - Brian expresses gratitude to listeners for the past year, reflecting on the unique nature of podcasting and letting listeners know he cherishes the encouragement and connections made, especially at events like Agile 2023. [31:00] - What do you want to hear in 2024? What are some of the hot-button topics that haven’t been covered on the show or guests you want to hear from? Send Brian an email with your ideas. [32:28] - And don’t forget to share and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. [33:00] - We also have our Agile Mentors Community, where we have discussions about every podcast [33:24] - Wishing you a Happy Holiday Season! We'll see you early again in 2024. References and resources mentioned in the show: #47: Exploring Lean Thinking in Agile Development with Bob Payne #52: The Birth of Agile: How 17 Adventurous Techies Changed the World with Jim Highsmith #59: Revising the Scrum Guide with Don McGreal #62: Effective Sprint Goals with Maarten Dalmijn #69: Should Scrum Masters Be Technical with Allison Pollard #39: The Art of Writing User Stories with Mike Cohn #65: Unlocking Lean Portfolio Management with Randy Hale #22: How to Create Helpful Product Roadmaps with Roman Pichler #33 Mob Programming with Woody Zuill #48: Holistic Agile Testing with Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory #54 Unlocking Agile's Power in the World of Data Science #63: The Interplay Between Data Science and Agile with Lance Dacy #71: The World of DevOps with Carlos Nunez #32: Scrum in High School Sports with Cort Sharp #38: Using Agile for Social and Societal Transformation with Kubair Shirazee #45: Overcoming the Challenges of Agile in Regulatory Environments with Scott Dunn #64: How Agile Methodologies are Reshaping Legal Practices with John Grant #34: I'm Trained, Now What? with Julie Chickering #40: Is it Time to Go Out on Your Own? Tips and Insights with Chris Li #42: The Importance of Self-Mastery with Bob Galen #46: How to Assess Company Culture Before Accepting a Job Offer with Christina Ambers #50: Choosing Your Path: Exploring the Roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner with Lance Dacy #37: Servant Leadership, Not Spineless Leadership with Brad Swanson #41: Cultural Transformation in Organizations with Karim Harbott #53: Agile Coaching: Debunking Myths and Unlocking Excellence with Lucy O'Keefe #66: Successful Strategies for Navigating Team Conflicts #68: The Pros and Cons and Real World Applications of SAFe with Mike Hall #70: The Role of a Leader in Agile with Mike Cohn #49: Celebrating One Year: A Look Back at 50 Episodes of the Agile Mentor Podcast Certified Scrum Master Training and Scrum Certification Certified Scrum Product Owner Training Advanced Certified ScrumMaster® Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner® Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule Join the Agile Mentors Community Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts 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.

Join Brian as he rediscovers and relives the most captivating topics, memorable guests, and impactful topics from the first year of the “Agile Mentors” podcast. Overview From deep dives into Agile methodologies and practical tips for using your knowledge to benefit others and foster change, the first 50 episodes of the “Agile Mentor” podcast have been filled with fascinating topics and memorable guests. In this episode, Brian Milner embarks on a retrospective journey through the inaugural year of the show. Listen in as he shares the real stars of the podcast, the moments that surprised him, those that took him out of his comfort zone, and the ones that inspired him to push to be better every day! Plus, what’s next for the show. Listen Now to Discover: [00:45] - Brian introduces the retrospective episode to celebrate one year and 50 episodes of the "Agile Mentors" podcast and share what's next. [01:54] - A thank you for YOUR role in the show. [02:17] - The role of marrying the right topic to the right guest. [02:56] - The format that allows listeners to choose the episodes that interest them the most. [04:03] - Pointing you toward the best of the best. Our first several episodes were focused on the Agile Framework and some core topics, including having Mike Cohn on to talk about the different roles and generally accepted practices. [05:13] - Sending out thanks to a few of our guests, including the trainers at Mountain Goat Software, including Lance Dacy. [05:45] - Kert Peterson joined us to share his knowledge, and Scott Dunn shared his insight from the product owner's perspective. [06:05] - On episode 16, Mitch Lacey joined us to discuss The Hidden Secret Ingredient And Julie Chickering brought a great perspective from a project management background and applying that to some of the stuff we've discussed here on the show. [06:39] - The time when one of my mentors joined us on the show to discuss transformation. [07:08] - Learning about coaching and marketing from the best! [07:27] - Roman Pitchler joined us to discuss product roadmaps and planning things from a product owner perspective. And John Miller shared about using Scrum in the education environment. [07:46] - On EP25, Henrik Nieberg came on and talked to us about scaling, and on EP27, Tricia Broderick walked us through leadership without blame. [08:18] - How Scrum can be applied outside of software development and mob programming. [08:42] - The key to working with humans. [09:03] - The episode that surprised Brian a little bit. [09:34] - Three episodes all about change: The first one was about how one organization uses Scrum to help impoverished micro-entrepreneurs succeed (and change their lives). The second featured Chris Li sharing his insight on how to know when it’s time to strike out on your own, and Karim Harbott walked us through the difficulty of transforming an organization's culture. [10:25] - The episode that inspired Brian to try to push in different ways to get better. And how to cultivate an Agile culture in a virtual world. [10:53] - Why transformations take people, how to assess a company’s culture before you accept their job offer, and lean thinking in Agile with Bob Payne. [11:49] - The real stars of the podcast. [12:30] - What’s ahead for the podcast? [13:02] - Stepping off the gas a bit. [13:45] - Virtual dial—targeted tips. [14:32] - The lifeblood of the “Agile Mentors” podcast. [15:06] - Mike Cohn and Brian are both presenting at Agile2023 in Orlando, July 24 through 28th. [15:39] - The most significant benefit of BIG conferences. [16:41] - Thank you for getting us to a year and 50 episodes! Join the Agile Mentors Community to continue the discussion. If you have topics for future episodes, email us by clicking here. And don’t forget to subscribe to the “Agile Mentors” Podcast on Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. References and resources mentioned in the show: Agile2023 | Orlando, Florida | Agile Alliance #1: Scrum vs Agile & Keys to Success with Mike Cohn #3: What Makes a Great Product Owner? With Lance Dacy #9: Scrum Artifacts with Kert Peterson #10: Why User Stories are the Best Way to Capture Requirements with Mike Cohn #17: Getting There From Here: Agile Transformations with David Hawks #18 Coaching in an Agile World with Lyssa Adkins #21: Agile Marketing Teams with Stacey Ackerman #22: How to Create Helpful Product Roadmaps with Roman Pichler #23 How Agile Works in Education with John Miller #25: Scaling with Henrik Kniberg #27: Leading Without Blame with Tricia Broderick #29: Influencing Up with Scott Dunn #32: Scrum in High School Sports with Cort Sharp #33 Mob Programming with Woody Zuill #34: I'm Trained, Now What? with Julie Chickering #37: Servant Leadership, Not Spineless Leadership with Brad Swanson #38: Using Agile for Social and Societal Transformation with Kubair Shirazee #40: Is it Time to Go Out on Your Own? Tips and Insights with Chris Li #41: Cultural Transformation in Organizations with Karim Harbott #42: The Importance of Self-Mastery with Bob Galen #43: Cultivating Agile Team Culture in a Virtual World with Richard Cheng #44: Transformations Take People with Anu Smalley #46: How to Assess Company Culture Before Accepting a Job Offer with Christina Ambers #47: Exploring Lean Thinking in Agile Development with Bob Payne Mountain Good Software's Certified Product Owner course Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule Join the Agile Mentors Community Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts 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.

Brad Swanson joins Brian to explore the concept of servant leadership and share actionable takeaways to help you lead with compassion and empathy. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brad Swanson joins Brian to discuss the concept of servant leadership and how it can be applied in an Agile environment. Learn how to create strong personal connections with your team members, the power of asking powerful questions to foster collaboration, and how to be more assertive as a leader while remaining flexible about the process. Listen in as Brad shares three practical ways that listeners can cultivate a servant leadership mindset and build a positive and productive work environment. Listen Now to discover: [01:48] - Brian introduces Brad Swanson, who has the trifecta of certifications with Scrum Alliance: CST, CEC, and CTC. [02:54] - Brad shares his belief that servant leadership involves prioritizing the needs of the team while cultivating a culture of trust and collaboration. [04:43] - Since the 1970s, the servant leadership concept introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf has involved empowering team members rather than seeing them as subordinates. [07:48] - Brian shares his experience playing football and how it relates to management styles, highlighting that a calm and empowering approach can be more impactful than an authoritative one. [09:55] - Brad shares the idea that effective leadership involves the ability to balance and leverage multiple power styles and shares the book "Leadership Agility" by Bill Joiner and Steven Josephs, which emphasizes the importance of situational leadership. [13:30] - Brad shares his perspective on the shift in the last version of the Scrum Guide from using the term "servant leadership" to "true leadership" and why he prefers the term situational leadership. [15:05] - Brian acknowledges that people have a natural predisposition towards being either assertive or accommodating and how stepping outside of one's comfort zone can lead to both personal growth and an expansion of your skill set. [16:05:] - Brad suggests there is a difference between being assertive and directive. [19:38:] - The effectiveness of asking powerful questions to invite collaboration and reach a mutual goal. [20:17] - The key to being more assertive as a leader without attacking the individual (and remaining flexible about the process). [21:55] - Brad shares three ways listeners can implement a servant leadership mentality. [23:35] - Brian shares how to use a notebook to process your thoughts and ideas while giving others a chance to speak up. [24:38] - Brad shares why listening is a skill that requires frequent practice. [25:15] - Why it’s a good idea to keep your team in the loop about the changes you are trying to make in your leadership style. [26:13] - Why being open and transparent about your efforts to improve can help create a learning environment where improvement is both expected and accepted. [27:05] - Why creating strong personal relationships with the people you are leading is crucial to effective leadership and developing the team's skills. [29:05] - Listeners of the Agile Mentor’s Podcast can get a 10% discount on the Certified Agile Leadership class Brad has coming up on March 27th by using promo code friend10. Find out more by visiting Agility 11. [30:34] - Join the Agile Mentors Community to continue the discussion. You can get a free 12-month membership into the community by taking a class with Mountain Goat Software. References and resources mentioned in the show: What is Servant Leadership? "Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness" "Leadership Agility" Agility 11 Certified Agile Leadership - CAL Essentials & Organizations with Brad Beginning March 27, 2023 - Promo Code: friend10 Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule Scrum Alliance Join the Agile Mentors Community Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts 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. Brad Swanson, Founder and Principal Coach and Trainer at Agility 11 helps organizations achieve sustainable success through Lean and Agile principles. With extensive experience as a trusted advisor to executives and organizations worldwide, Brad holds certifications as a Leadership Agility 360 Coach, Agile Leadership Educator, Scrum Trainer, Enterprise Coach, Professional in Agile Coaching, and LeSS Practitioner.

Brad Swanson joins Brian to explore the concept of servant leadership and share actionable takeaways to help you lead with compassion and empathy. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Brad Swanson joins Brian to discuss the concept of servant leadership and how it can be applied in an Agile environment. Learn how to create strong personal connections with your team members, the power of asking powerful questions to foster collaboration, and how to be more assertive as a leader while remaining flexible about the process. Listen in as Brad shares three practical ways that listeners can cultivate a servant leadership mindset and build a positive and productive work environment. Listen Now to discover: [01:48] - Brian introduces Brad Swanson, who has the trifecta of certifications with Scrum Alliance: CST, CEC, and CTC. [02:54] - Brad shares his belief that servant leadership involves prioritizing the needs of the team while cultivating a culture of trust and collaboration. [04:43] - Since the 1970s, the servant leadership concept introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf has involved empowering team members rather than seeing them as subordinates. [07:48] - Brian shares his experience playing football and how it relates to management styles, highlighting that a calm and empowering approach can be more impactful than an authoritative one. [09:55] - Brad shares the idea that effective leadership involves the ability to balance and leverage multiple power styles and shares the book "Leadership Agility" by Bill Joiner and Steven Josephs, which emphasizes the importance of situational leadership. [13:30] - Brad shares his perspective on the shift in the last version of the Scrum Guide from using the term "servant leadership" to "true leadership" and why he prefers the term situational leadership. [15:05] - Brian acknowledges that people have a natural predisposition towards being either assertive or accommodating and how stepping outside of one's comfort zone can lead to both personal growth and an expansion of your skill set. [16:05:] - Brad suggests there is a difference between being assertive and directive. [19:38:] - The effectiveness of asking powerful questions to invite collaboration and reach a mutual goal. [20:17] - The key to being more assertive as a leader without attacking the individual (and remaining flexible about the process). [21:55] - Brad shares three ways listeners can implement a servant leadership mentality. [23:35] - Brian shares how to use a notebook to process your thoughts and ideas while giving others a chance to speak up. [24:38] - Brad shares why listening is a skill that requires frequent practice. [25:15] - Why it’s a good idea to keep your team in the loop about the changes you are trying to make in your leadership style. [26:13] - Why being open and transparent about your efforts to improve can help create a learning environment where improvement is both expected and accepted. [27:05] - Why creating strong personal relationships with the people you are leading is crucial to effective leadership and developing the team's skills. [29:05] - Listeners of the Agile Mentor’s Podcast can get a 10% discount on the Certified Agile Leadership class Brad has coming up on March 27th by using promo code friend10. Find out more by visiting Agility 11. [30:34] - Join the Agile Mentors Community to continue the discussion. You can get a free 12-month membership into the community by taking a class with Mountain Goat Software. References and resources mentioned in the show: What is Servant Leadership? "Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness" "Leadership Agility" Agility 11 Certified Agile Leadership - CAL Essentials & Organizations with Brad Beginning March 27, 2023 - Promo Code: friend10 Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule Scrum Alliance Join the Agile Mentors Community Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast on Apple Podcasts 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. Brad Swanson, Founder and Principal Coach and Trainer at Agility 11 helps organizations achieve sustainable success through Lean and Agile principles. With extensive experience as a trusted advisor to executives and organizations worldwide, Brad holds certifications as a Leadership Agility 360 Coach, Agile Leadership Educator, Scrum Trainer, Enterprise Coach, Professional in Agile Coaching, and LeSS Practitioner.

We interview Love and Communication Coach Brad Swanson. This is a deep episode where we talk about how Brad got started as a coach and how he believes that love and communication are the central point of everything we want in life. There are so many great take-aways from this episode and we cover everything from self love to dating to following your intuition.    Follow Brad Swanson : @breakingthroughwithbrad @brad_swanson72  www.breakingthroughwithbrad.com   Follow our host Lyndsay Wilson: @the_queen_of_glam   Follow our producer/editor :  @sarina.lanae

Episode 397 - Brad Swanson joined in for today's podcast to share how you can co-create the life you want. More importantly, he shares a simple process to ask yourself - are you coming from love, or fear? www.heatherhakes.com Take the FREE Life Assessment: www.heatherhakes.com Listen to the podcast: https://mind-over-matter-podcast-1.po... Mindset + Manifesting Course: https://heatherhakes.com/course-2/ 1:1 Coaching: https://heatherhakes.com/coaching/ Read my book: https://heatherhakes.com/book/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/heather-hakes/support

Why leaders need to learn to let go, and why letting go is only half of the solution.Jon Christensen, founder and president of Kelsus helping startups build products, shares his leadership journey and stresses the importance he learned in letting go in order to grow as a leader.Brad Swanson, leadership and organizational coach, interviews Jon and discusses with Pete on what all leaders can learn why and how to let go in order to become better leaders, only to discover that letting go is only half of the solution!Visit (Re)Learning Leadership Website for author biographies, links, transcript, comments and more.

LOADED SHOW! Three guests as Kewanee senior QB Will Bruno and coach Brad Swanson break down the season with extra emphasis on the Princeton and Hall games as the Boilermakers (6-0) play Mendota (5-1) Friday.Then we catch up with Mike Goff who was inducted into the NewsTribune Hall of Fame after playing football with La Salle-Peru, University of Iowa, and three NFL teams during a 12-year career. Now, he's an assistant coach with San Diego State University.Intro: IHSA boys and girls golf postseason, MLB Wildcard, Chicago Sky, Chicago Bulls, NFL Week 5 picks

Andy Slain, a company man for 17 years in a well-paying managerial position decides to leave it all behind to pursue a path of purpose with no financial guarantees. Essentially answering his own question, “What would I do if money didn't matter?”Brad Swanson, a Leadership and Organization Coach, joins Pete to reflect on Andy's story and share his own similar purpose-seeking work/life choices to help us all relearn how to be more purposeful about our own leadership journeys.Learn more about Andy, Brad, and the shared story on our (Re)Learning Leadership Website.Visit Agile Leadership Journey for more on how we build better leaders.

The main mission of the non-for-profit SALT, is to help create an empathic generation through service-learning travel. Salt promotes uniquely meaningful student travel experiences that meet the needs of the local community while promoting personal growth and understanding. Co-founders, Ida Fiore and Brad Swanson, join me to share how Salt has had to pivot and shift gears during Covid. They have created the ‘Salt Serving Safely’ project to help service those in need locally though their ‘Shop N’ Drop’ and ‘Love2 Learn’ programs. Listen to find out how you can help and hear all the amazing things these kids are doing to stay proactive and help the community. Check out their site www.saltstudenttravel.com and follow them on IG & FB @saltstudenttravel!  

Peter Schorsch hunkers down with Brad Swanson, president and CEO of Florida Internet & Television, an influential trade group that represents cable television and internet providers throughout the state. He also hosts FITv, a popular video podcast that features conversations with members of the Legislature, experts and others involved in The Process. The two address what is perhaps the question on everyone’s mind while they’re stuck indoors — is the internet OK? Good news, it is. Swanson explains how the network was built above capacity, which means it should be able to handle the influx of streaming and Zoom meetings. And he brags about his industry’s community-minded approach to the virus including some companies offering free internet service to families without it so kids can participate in distance learning. Will the virus contribute to changes in politics? Peter speculates it won’t, but the economy could be forever changed. Swanson admits he was reluctant to believe the pandemic was going to be a crisis, but it’s now hit him. Peter recounts how he warned Swanson in the early days. Swanson said his reluctance was more about optimism, but he now heaps praise for health care workers for managing the crisis. Swanson also defends DeSantis for delaying statewide closures, arguing there was no perfect solution. Peter laments not buying stock in 3M and bonus, spills the beans on Swanson’s hotel bar patronage. Listen to fid out. Special Guest: Brad Swanson.

Grab your whiskey and cigars...we're out on Ed's and Amanda's patio in Southeast. We get deep into the beginnings of the Portland alternative music scene in the early 90's and talk to the people that were part of making that happen and how they all came together. 9 people. 32 bands. A half dozen Record Labels.Early 90's music history as it happened to us in Portland Oregon.The voices you are hearing are….Marc Gilson - Drums - Gecko Monks, Either/OrRon Thomas - Vocals, Bass, Guitar - Gecko Monks, Oedipus Complex, Empty Tomb, Waterhouse/Yonder Hill (The Clergy)Bobby Sable aka Jean Pierre - Drums - Permanent Houseguest, Yum Yum Children, Sometime Sunday, Tragedy AnnBenjy Rickard - Bass - Guitar - Less Than Civilized, Gifty, Piqqadown, Sappo, Stereo Crush, Boy Eats Drum MachineBradley Swanson - Bass, Vocals, Guitar - Quill, Pep Squad, Motormouth, The CompanyBryan Everett - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboards - Evil Twin Brother, Inchwater, Pep Squad, The Denominators, Motormouth, The CompanyErin Brockway Collins - Vocals - Elisha’s Bones, Naive, Gifty, The Company, The DickensTodd Fadel - Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, lyre, lute and anything else he puts his hands on. Sappo, Twin Sister, Agents of Future, Thorn, The Julie Moons, The Garbage Chute Flyboys, The Soul Conspiracy, The Beauty and Todd's music venues, Otisberg, The MEOW MEOW, MEOW MEOW PRESENTS and Todd is currently doing music nights at Boise-Eliot /Humboldt Elementary School in PortlandRoy Fisher aka Wrigley - Sound Engineer - Guitar - Bass - Permanent Houseguest. Roy ran sound for hundreds of Secular and Christian bands, events, venues, tours and festivals. From Bad Religion to POD, he was the front of house sound engineer for a list of bands too long for me to name. He went worldwide with Shine Down, the Dandy Warhols, Chevelle and Van Halen, did numerous TV appearances, massive music festivals, and he has been a part of almost every single band, club, event and festival I have done.Bobby Sable played with me in Sometime Sunday on the 'Stone' record and Tragedy Ann on the 'Lesser' record.Todd Fadel and I spent a great deal of time together coming up with fun things for you all to do. Haha. We were in a Star Wars tribute band called ‘Twin Sister’ formerly ‘Boba Fett’ and we opened The Push, The Turbocat Lounge and started Tom Festival together. He wrote two songs for my band Tragedy Ann.Erin Collins and I were in a band called the Dickens. Our record was called Target 60 mins because that was the kind of blank tapes we used to duplicate our recordings on. She was the office manager and organizational superhero for many years for all of our shows and festivals.Roy Fisher was instrumental from my first band and club to the last things I did in Oregon, he played a role in almost every single thing I did there. I could not have done it without him.All of these bands and more can be found on the web at The Corral on Spin Cycle on Bandcamp. A counterculture musical museum curated by Brad Swanson and Erin Collins. The Corral and Spin Cycle were two music venues in the NW that we all played frequently. It's an absolutely fantastic collection of music, album art and liner notes from our expansive family of bands. It is all things 90's and beyond from the Northwest. Brad has taken the time to find, scan, digitize, upload and in some cases even remaster everything you see. The site is donation based. It's free but if you have a few bucks please donate. It helps Brad and Erin continue. Search 'The Corral on Spin Cycle' and enjoy. Thanks so much Brad and Erin!Cheers from Southern California!

In this episode I speak with Love & Communication Coach Brad Swanson!

Hello Amȯn Tȯbin! He was Born in Brazil, but as you can hear from this interview he's got a distinctively English twang having spent yonks in the UK. I don't want to give away the details of the chap's timeline just yet as we get into all of that in this FaceTime chin wag. Might I say at this point though that I feel mightily chuffed to have Amon on the show.  He's truly one of the outstanding living talents in Electronic music and that's really not an overstatement. He's made a stack of cracking albums for London label 9Bar Records and of course the marvelous Ninja Tune. A relationship that kicked off way back in 1996.  The boy doesn't stop! Now he's busy as ever with his own label Nomark.  He's got hard drives and aliases up the wazoo and he's making crazy shit every day and by the sounds of things a lot of new music is coming soon.  The man has a masterful grasp of sound collage, from the wildest found sound and manipulated field recordings to the risky dark lands of additive synthesis and into modular madness. He's always managed to present his sound to the world on the stage without falling into the usual cliched confines of the club. He's performed at many a prestigious venue, such as the birthplace of musique concrete, the GRM in Paris. In 2011 he seriously raised the bar on audio visual combos with the dazzling ISAM show. When that footage started circulating I remember spitting out my coffee.  It's STILL one of the most incredible things to witness on the interwebs as a realization of potent audio visual immersions. A true SHOW.  He also produced several original scores, ranging from the cult film Taxidermia to the video game blockbuster Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Constantly shifting and constantly inspiring. Please welcome the show one of the most visionary electronic artists of his generation Amȯn Tȯbin    In the nitty I get into the murky world of pitch tracking guitars and seeing if there's any juicy noise to be had chucking the axe thro the modular. Yeah… it's a wobbly affair!   Good to be back :) Cheers y'all _______________________ Music for the show comes from Brad Swanson aka “The Transparency” Here's the LP from which I removed and edits some pod snips. Good stuff! It's called aptly “It might get dark” check it out: https://thetransparency.bandcamp.com/album/it-might-get-dark  

On Trimmel Gomes’ latest episode of The Rotunda, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson said he’s ready to run “like there is no tomorrow” against Gov. Rick Scott who is making his candidacy official today. GOP political consultant Brian Burgess, a former Scott spokesman explains why he thinks Scott is more prepared for the challenge. Gomes also features conversations with POLITICO’s Matt Dixon and FiTV’s Brad Swanson. On Florida’s governor’s race, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine talks with students at Florida State University, where student Logan Taaffe, shares his takeaways from the speech. Plus, Tallahassee-based clemency lawyer Reggie Garcia explains the battle over the restoration of voting rights for ex-felons.

On Trimmel Gomes' latest episode of The Rotunda, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson said he's ready to run “like there is no tomorrow” against Gov. Rick Scott who is making his candidacy official today. GOP political consultant Brian Burgess, a former Scott spokesman explains why he thinks Scott is more prepared for the challenge. Gomes also features conversations with POLITICO's Matt Dixon and FiTV's Brad Swanson. On Florida's governor's race, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine talks with students at Florida State University, where student Logan Taaffe, shares his takeaways from the speech. Plus, Tallahassee-based clemency lawyer Reggie Garcia explains the battle over the restoration of voting rights for ex-felons.

Matt Polka sits down with Brad Swanson, the President of Florida Internet & Television, an association representing cable and broadband providers in Florida. Brad has flipped the association around, creating a new name, image, and presence among policy makers. Enjoy! https://internetandtvfl.com/ Follow us: @AmericanCable @MATTatACA

As web companies and activists band together in protest of the Federal Communications Commission's proposed rollback of net neutrality rules, supporters of the change share their concerns with the current Title II regulations. On Trimmel Gomes' latest episode of The Rotunda features interviews with Brad Swanson, president, and CEO of the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, and Julio Fuentes, president, and CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Gomes also examines why South Florida is leading the nation in high-growth tech startups. Joseph Russo the executive director of Palm Beach Tech, a non-profit trade association shares his vision for building a hub for technology entrepreneurship in Florida. he Rotunda podcast is available each Monday via iTunes, Stitcher or Soundcloud. Follow on @RotundaPodcast on Twitter and visit www.rotundapodcast.com for daily updates.

As web companies and activists band together in protest of the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed rollback of net neutrality rules, supporters of the change share their concerns with the current Title II regulations. On Trimmel Gomes’ latest episode of The Rotunda features interviews with Brad Swanson, president, and CEO of the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, and Julio Fuentes, president, and CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Gomes also examines why South Florida is leading the nation in high-growth tech startups. Joseph Russo the executive director of Palm Beach Tech, a non-profit trade association shares his vision for building a hub for technology entrepreneurship in Florida. he Rotunda podcast is available each Monday via iTunes, Stitcher or Soundcloud. Follow on @RotundaPodcast on Twitter and visit www.rotundapodcast.com for daily updates.

Monthly radio show podcast with ex-BBC broadcaster Alan Ashton. Features old and new recordings of theatre organs, electronic organs and keyboards. From Wersi to Wurlitzer, Hammond to Compton. This show features tracks from: Anthony Lomas, Winifrea, Rosa Rio, Claudia Hirschfeld, Frank Gordon, Mike Sullivan, Stephen Vincent, Howard Beaumont, Brad Swanson, Ady Zehnpfennig and Nigel Ogden.

What does it mean to be your own self sourcing eco system? Brad Swanson performs his original song, This Moments Enough.

As featured on the Divine Throughline Podcast #35. Produced and mixed by Tyler Piatt and Hari Mathis. Thanks to Brad Swanson.

Matt Westerman is a singer/songwriter who crafts heartfelt, intimate songs with catchy hooks. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, Matt was inspired by many different artists ranging from Dave Matthews to Sigur Ros to Sufjan Stevens. His sound is a reflection of his interests: folk pop with lush acoustic guitars, sonic ambiance, and soulful vocal performances. In 2015 Matt teamed up with producer Brad Swanson to create his debut EP. The first single, “Don’t Give Up On You” is now available worldwide. mattwesterman.com facebook.com/mattwestermanmusic instagram.com/mattwesterman soundcloud.com/mattwestermanmusic twitter.com/matt_westerman

Matt Westerman is a singer/songwriter who crafts heartfelt, intimate songs with catchy hooks. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, Matt was inspired by many different artists ranging from Dave Matthews to Sigur Ros to Sufjan Stevens. His sound is a reflection of his interests: folk pop with lush acoustic guitars, sonic ambiance, and soulful vocal performances. In 2015 Matt teamed up with producer Brad Swanson to create his debut EP. The first single, “Don’t Give Up On You” is now available worldwide. mattwesterman.com facebook.com/mattwestermanmusic instagram.com/mattwesterman soundcloud.com/mattwestermanmusic twitter.com/matt_westerman

Vedic Astrology, overcoming wounded healer, live performance by Brad Swanson, Red & Wild

Bringing you up to date on Bellingham United FC, as well as a look at the EPLWA for this week and an interview with Assistant Coach, Brad Swanson.

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show, Ricky discusses Derek Jeter's potential return this weekend and the Yankees lack of offense again. Should they move Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes?  Plus, Ricky is joined by Brad Swanson of PuckettsPond.com to discuss last week's Yankees-Twins series and preview this week as the Yankees will play their final series of the 1st half of the season! 

On this epsiode of the YGY Series Preview Show, Ricky talks about the miserable week the New York Yankees are having and why this week shows they are far away from being contenders.  Then, Brad Swanson from PuckettsPond.com joins me to talk about the Yankees' upcoming 4-game visit to Target Field. On the show, we discuss the Twins' promising rookies, Mauer + Morneau, and much more from a team that is doing much better than people expected.