Podcasts about carley hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 13:30

This week, we're revisiting one of our Top 10 Guided Meditations of 2024, led by Carley Hauck. This meditation is an invitation to notice the emotions that arise during difficult moments, to meet them without judgment, and to hold them with tenderness. We're also celebrating the revival of Mindful Magazine with a special giveaway for our podcast listeners. Mindful Premium gives you a full year of access to the print magazine, plus our complete digital library of articles, meditations, courses, and more. Want a chance to WIN a free year of Mindful Premium? Simply visit: https://signups.mindful.org/win-premium/ and enter your email today. This giveaway is our way of saying thank you for being part of our amazing community. We can't wait for you to explore everything Mindful Premium has to offer! Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Carley Hauck here: Carley Hauck on Mindful.org Carley Hauck's Website And more from Mindful here: More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

A Meditation to Meet Difficult Emotions with Compassion with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 13:30

A 12-Minute Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2024 12:51

This week, Carley Hauck guides us to embrace all parts of ourselves—those qualities we see as our “shadow,” or what isn't serving us, as well as the light, or what we see as our positive attributes. Especially as leaders (including any person who shows leadership in their life), working with both our “dark” and “light” parts allows us to shine our full potential out into the world. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Carley Hauck here: Carley Hauck on Mindful.org Carley Hauck's Website And more from Mindful here: More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

A 12-Minute Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2024 12:51

A 12-Minute Meditation to Connect with What Matters Most to You with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2024 12:57

This week, Carley Hauck invites us to look within ourselves and affirm what it is that we love most. By connecting with our heart and remembering who and what we love, we also get to connect with our inner caring, protective instinct. This compassionate part of ourselves provides the motivation to choose beneficial actions, not just one time but over the days, weeks, and months of our lives. Join leadership expert Carley Hauck for the Mindful Workshop: Awaken Your Inner Leader on September 10th at 10 AM PDT. In this 75-minute workshop, you'll learn how to develop leadership skills that bridge differences and foster belonging at work and in the world. Don't miss this opportunity to create a positive impact through conscious leadership. Sign up now at shop.mindful.org/. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Carley Hauck here: Carley Hauck on Mindful.org Carley Hauck's Website And more from Mindful here: More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

A 12-Minute Meditation to Connect with What Matters Most to You with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2024 12:57

A 12-Minute Meditation for Working with Difficult Emotions with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2024 14:06

This week, Carley Hauck introduces us to a simple yet profound meditation practice aimed at helping us navigate through the ups and downs of everyday life. In a world that feels increasingly complex and uncertain, Carley's guidance is like a gentle hand on the back, encouraging us to slow down and find calm amidst the chaos. She shows us how to face life's challenges with a kind and open heart, reminding us that it's okay to feel overwhelmed sometimes. Stay curious, stay inspired. Join our community by signing up for our free newsletter, where we share compelling insights and actionable ideas to enrich your everyday life. Connect with us at mindful.org/signup. Show Notes Find more from Carley Hauck here: Carley Hauck on Mindful.org Carley Hauck's Website And more from Mindful here: More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation The Real Mindful Podcast Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing yourwords@mindful.org.

A 12-Minute Meditation for Working with Difficult Emotions with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2024 14:06

Trauma Informed Leadership: Dancing in the Dark with Amy Elizabeth Fox and Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2023 63:15

Description: What is at the root of most human conflict? Trauma. The presence of individual, collective, and intergenerational trauma is an important dimension in the workforce that needs attention and healing. In this interview, tune in to understand the science of trauma and the opportunity to positively shape and influence the future of work and our world through trauma informed leadership. Amy and Carley share important skills and practices for healing and collaboration that everyone can learn to create well being and a healthy organizational culture. Lastly, understand the intersection of trauma, consciousness, and climate change. Episode Links: Amy Elizbeth Fox on LinkedIn Trauma Informed Certificate Program Next Practice Institute Team Building Experience- From Triggered to Triumph Learning & Conscious Leadership Development Article- MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD SHINE Links:

72. Feminine Qualities in Leadership: The Power of Collaboration with Carley Hauck & Coco Brown

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2023 55:16

Description: How do we adapt, collaborate and stay resilient in a fast paced and constantly changing environment? The answer, we cultivate and embrace the feminine qualities of leadership and empower multiple leaders to guide. In this interview with Coco Brown, CEO of Athena Alliance we talk about the importance of cultivating leadership qualities that are often associated with feminine energy and relate to increased collaboration, empathy, communication, and nurturing. You will learn how to prioritize and create a foundation of these important leadership qualities from the top down so that everyone feels empowered to lead together. Lastly, you will hear why having more women at the helm will support a more sustainable and equitable workplace and world. Episode Links: Coco on LinkedIn Athena Alliance Podcast Interview- What leadership skills are needed to create a healthy organizational culture with Carley and Coco. Learning & Conscious Leadership Development SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: Carley LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social: LinkedIn IG Website Shine Podcast Page IMPERFECT SHOWNOTES: Carley Hauck 0:11 Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am host of the shine podcast. This podcast has been flickering strong since May 2019. I began the podcast due to all the research I was conducting. In interviews with organizational leaders, lead scientists, academic researchers and spiritual teachers for my new book shine, ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. I wrote my book to inspire a new paradigm of conscious leadership and business that was in service of higher purpose to help humans flourish, and regenerate our planet. The podcast focuses on the science and application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about the theme of our season, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on shine or go to your favorite podcast platform carrier. That way you don't miss one episode. Thank you. This season is going to be focused on what leadership skills are most needed to create a healthy organizational culture. Leadership and manager effectiveness has been deemed the number one priority for HR in 2023. And every person listening whether you have a formal leadership title or not, you are a leader. We all have the responsibility to lead around something that we care about whether it's at home, with our family, in our communities, and or in the workplace. And on to the podcast. Hi, Shine podcast listeners, I am delighted to be with my friend Coco brown. This is going to be an incredible conversation. Hi, Coco. Hi. So great to have you here. Thanks for being with me. Coco Brown 2:33 I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me here. Carley Hauck 2:36 You're so welcome. Well, I know a lot about you. But for our listeners, tell me a little bit about what you're feeling excited about. And perhaps even just sharing some of the roles that you wear from, you know, daughter to mother to CEO any identity identities that you want to share? Coco Brown 3:00 No, okay. Yeah, I, let's see my identity start with mother. I think within that identity, my biggest complaint from my kids about me is that I inhabit a seven year old mind maybe at the wrong times. I I'm playful and fun. And I like to I like to be young. And I'm trying to I think I'm trying to hold my kids back in that in that younger age. They're now in there. They're 22 and, and almost 19 So you know, my kids are growing older than me, I guess is what I'm saying. So, but they're my obsession, and I'm old by life and I'm a neighbor and Family is very important to me. Communities important to me. My my parents are are 3000 miles away from me. So as a woman in her early 50s I our mid 50s, mid mid early 50s. Now I worry about aging parents and I worry about kids launching into this crazy world. So those are that's I guess me personally, I I'm a potter. Not a great one, but a decent one. So I make pottery I am obsessed with pickleball although I've only played it a few times, and I play the beach volleyball as often as I can. And then on the work side of me. I am a fourth time entrepreneur. I have in one of those cases the very first one when I was in my early 20s. I created a product I couldn't take anywhere other than to sell it to another company. So and in the process. I talked to one on one venture capital firm, which is never advised you're supposed to talk to a lot of them and then As I became as Satya Nadella says a re founder, I became the second owner or sorry, the third owner of a company that needed to be pulled the Phoenix pulled from the ashes as it crashed in the.com bust and became really a shell of its former self. And I became the turnaround leader of that company and then ran it for about 10 years and grew it to a size where it could be sold. It was eventually sold to IBM. And my third entrepreneurial endeavor was really around, building a consulting practice and working with CEOs to build advisory boards for them and lead their annual and quarterly strategy planning sessions and help them build their teams cohesiveness. That was a lot of fun for a little while. And then I started Athena Alliance, and that is my, my passion. My kids are my obsession and my Athena's the passion project. I am growing Athena, which is an ecosystem of community content and coaching for executive women. Carley Hauck 6:07 Mm hmm. Amazing. Well, I didn't know about the Potter or the pickleball fan. But yes, I did know about the four time entrepreneur and I'm just amazed at your energy, Coco. And so do you want to share a little bit more about why you launched Athena? And why that is so important right now? Coco Brown 6:35 Yeah, I, you know, Athena has many mothers in a lot of ways. Athena has started in 2005, which is almost 20 years ago. Because I was finding myself in more and more high stakes environments as the President CEO of of Taos, I was walking into rooms where people had chief titles, and they were our customers. And I would run into women. Our customer was the CIO. So on the tech side, and I'd run into women, and they'd say, I'm the only one, you know, I'm the only CIO in the valley and, and it started, I started a dinner group to get us together, because there were more than just one. And I happen to keep running into the others. And there were about eight of us at the time. And so and I know there were more than eight, but eight is what I started with, and, and that grew and grew and grew and 10 years into it 2015, I had 80 Some women and by sorry, by 2012, I had 80 Some women, and by 2015, it was 157 women. And in 2012, I stepped down from running Taos, and it had been 10 years. And I stayed on the board two years. But I had a lot that I was trying to figure out. And these women who had been my, my, I don't know, what would you call it, that there was just like this nice place to go every two months where we'd have dinner and cocktails together. And we didn't talk about you know, woe is me, it's hard to be a woman or you know, we talked about our data center strategies and business continuity planning and network, you know, redesigns and that sort of thing. But it was this nice, easy place to be having those work discussions and, and that group of women said to me, when I when I was leaving everything behind, after so many years of being in the tech world, they said Don't leave us behind. And the many mothers became, you know, really evident. In the early days back in 2005, I think it was sunny as a day who suggested that I even start the dinner in the first place. And then Thomas tam Oliver, who said, I used to have these back in, in the 90s. And these dinners I called the no name group and you know, so I got inspiration from others. And in 2012, when I was walking away from the tech world for what I didn't, you know, I didn't know how long I was walking away from it. Gina Ray Haig said, don't stop the dinners, I'll pay for the first one. And then Cindy Reese said, I'll pay for the second one. And, you know, we we just kept going and, and then I got this mandate, you know, almost a flurry of emails. And after a group of us met with Senator Mark Warner, who was out from Virginia doing a hearts and minds tour, and he, you know, he said, what's on your mind and somebody said boardroom and I got a flurry of email the next day emails the next day saying that's it, Coco. You heard what was being said in that room. You know, we've got to get women on boards and you've got the ecosystem go solve this problem. And so it sort of started with me solving a problem. And starting it as a nonprofit and getting you know, we've got over 450 women to boards and then figuring out a commercial company that became even bigger than that. Carley Hauck 9:49 Amazing. Well, I love hearing that story. And I know that we're gonna we're gonna go more in depth in into why it's important to have women on boards and and women in leadership, but I want to move into how you're leading yourself. And also did just speak more into conscious leadership because I know we're both really passionate about that topic. So as I've gotten to know you, you seem to be juggling so many things. And what I always notice every time we talk is that you feel at least from the outside, calm, grounded, you may not feel like that on the inside, but you present that way. And I think there's this this quality of I don't, I don't know how you do it. But it's like, I never hear you frazzled. Even if you haven't eaten anything all day, which sometimes I've talked to you like, Yeah, I haven't eaten anything all day. I was just thinking Unknown Speaker 10:48 that I actually haven't eaten today, and I'm really hungry. Carley Hauck 10:51 Oh, no, oh, no. Okay, well, but I want you to eat. worry, don't worry. But I guess what I'm wondering is, I know that there are certain things that you're doing and being that are actually really supporting you to thrive in the midst of all the things that you're juggling. And so what are some of those things that really support you? And what is it look like on a daily practice? Coco Brown 11:23 I mean, one of the things I think about all the time, and I kind of think my kids for this, when my kids were born, I immediately started thinking about when they would leave the house, you know, like, I'm gonna lose them, you know, and this is like, 22 years ago, and I just was always so aware of, of the moment like feeling like I was going to, you're going to look back on these this time, Koko, you're going to, you know, and just always wanting to make sure that I didn't miss a moment and, and that, I'm really glad that that was my, that that happened to me, because it puts you in a frame of mind whenever possible, sometimes it's not possible to be your best self. But whenever possible, it puts you in a frame of mind to say, how can you make the most of this rather than why is this crappy? And, you know, so you just like, well, she wants to play Barbies again, and then you go, okay, how can I make this fun for me, and you just sort of try to find the ways to make everything meaningful, and to find the meaning and the things that are happening and to make the most of it, and to not focus so much on the complaint, but rather focus on the opportunity. And, and I think I, I went through a phase where I was really not happy for a long time of not at my end home, I you know, loved that part of it. But we spend more time at work than we do at home and I I was not enjoying for a long time, my sense of purpose in work, and I didn't feel I had a sense of purpose. And in work the, the main objective of the company was to enrich the shareholders, of which there were three, myself and two others. And in IT tech, and it was before the days of, you know, purpose and culture and, and so you could have big personalities that were difficult to deal with. And that was more than accepted. It was praised in lots of ways and, and, you know, you didn't have to have any reason for, for what you were doing on the planet. And, and I like this new place that we are as, you know, we can choose as individuals, not everybody works at a place where they feel valued, or feel that there's purpose or meaning or impact, but I do and I choose to and the people that work around me choose to and I think most of us can choose to I think we often feel stuck, you know, when I'm in my day to day when I'm back to back of meetings, and I've got too much going on and I'm feeling exhausted and everything's blowing up and it's nothing's going right. And I can't get people to do what they're supposed to don't do, even though I've said it seven different ways and all the things that we deal with. Then, you know, I kind of I tried to remind myself that I choose to be here and that I can also only focus on what I can influence and what I can control. We control very, very little. We influence a lot more and so you know, how do you convey influence and so I you know, it's kind of a long winded I don't know how to fully answer this question. Well, other than to say, Carley Hauck 14:56 what I actually here is and this is this is One of the nine leadership competencies that I have really researched as part of what actually creates a conscious, inclusive leader. But one of that one of those competencies is having a growth mindset. And I heard you say it, you know, very explicitly, how can I choose to make this, you know, joyful? Or how can I choose to have fun here? Or what, you know, instead of how is this happening? Or why is this happening to me? How is this happening for me? And how do I want to respond? Coco Brown 15:34 Yeah, yeah, yes. And I think that's, that's extremely important in in every surgery, Carley Hauck 15:41 for sure. Wonderful. Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And so that is a daily practice having that mantra, we could say, or that narrative that allows you to bring your best to every moment, even when it's a difficult moment. Unknown Speaker 15:58 Yeah, absolutely. Carley Hauck 16:01 Thank you. I wanted to talk to you about a conscious leader that you've had in your life. Who was that person? Why would you call them a conscious leader? Like how did they empower you or support you or inspire you? How many more? Coco Brown 16:22 You know, I in my own career, I don't, I feel like the the person I've witnessed as the most conscious leader is, is someone I didn't actually work for or work directly with. So no, maybe that's Carley Hauck 16:40 a little rose colored glasses. And that's fine. Coco Brown 16:44 Yeah, so So a woman I'm a big fan of named Yvonne Watson, our associates. So just a quick on her, she, you know, early career at Accenture, or then ended up in a very, very important strategy role at VMware, and then ended up the CIO of New Relic. And then she ended up the CEO of Airware, and then CEO of puppet and she was on my board for a short time when I was for a nonprofit, prior to Athena. So we did work together in that sense. She's one of the mothers of Athena, you know, a lot of early, early insights came from her, the thing I would say, that I admire about her that I see in lots of different I see her and in many different situations, we ended up speaking on stages near each other, or at the same events, or, you know, so she's on a number of prominent boards at this point, she is always measured, and there's a lot of people who are measured. Because they're calculating, you know, the, the measurement is around, like, the calculation for how they can get what they're looking for. And her measurement is much more about, it seems to me, you know, very practiced and very skilled. So it's something she's developed over a lifetime, but it feels to me like it's the kind of thing where she's being thoughtful. She's just always being thoughtful, you know, what are you saying, Why are you saying it? What can come from it? How can I make it work for everyone? You know, you almost see, it's like, you can't, she's like a hummingbird with the hummingbird wings there. It's moving so fast, you can't see it, or move. But the things that come out of her mouth, make it clear that she's being measured, that she's thoughtful, I get a lot of inspiration from her. Because when I watch her, and I listen to her, and the stories she tells or the way she plays things back to people, it's always it's always plus one, it's always additive. You know, it's always contributing, it's never taking away. Carley Hauck 18:56 I love that. So measured, thoughtful, contributing, not taking away. You also said that she's always thinking about, perhaps why she's saying it. Versus just talking to talk. You know, there's, there's a way that she's more deliberate and intentional. You give me an example of an unconscious leader, and what qualities did they showcase? How did that impact you or other people? Even if this is someone that you maybe didn't know, closely? Coco Brown 19:34 Well, I mean, I think I think I would be arrogant to say that it isn't myself. You know, I think we're all unconscious leaders at some point. You know, we're like, Ah, why did I say that? Or? I know I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. It's almost like it just comes out and you just refuse to stop yourself. And you know, and you know, you can do better and you should do better. And you know, you know, you, instead of sending that email, you should pick up that phone. And instead of, you know, sending the subtle reprimand, you should once again say the thing that will be better received. And, and so I think the unconsciousness is when we're, when we act out of exhaustion, and when we act out of our own fear, you know, or our sense of like, Ah, I don't have time for this, or, you know, those sorts of feelings that we we have Carley Hauck 20:37 were triggered, right? Yeah, I think what you're speaking to, to some extent, is we're being triggered. Yeah, acting from that place, it's reactive versus responsive. Coco Brown 20:47 And it's extremely hard to be constantly in a state of, and this is why I admire, you know, Yvonne, it's like, I feel like she's, and I know, she also has hers where she, you know, she's not her best self, I'm sure. Of course, and I see so much more of the best self all the time and the thoughtful self. And, and I think that's what we strive for is like just giving ourselves a breath, not saying the thing that we want to say, because we know that even if it has the right effect, in the moment, it has the right the wrong longer term effect, just stopping ourselves from, from the bad behaviors that are so instinctual that our own self protection or fastest way to a response we want, even though it's not the best way to the response that you want, things like that. Carley Hauck 21:42 Thank you for that. I wanted to speak to some of the unconscious qualities that we all have, I agree, like, and then there are some that are even more harmful than others. And so I was actually having an interview with a colleague and friend of mine who wrote this book managing up. And we were speaking a bit about some of the research that has come out from basically reporting to a unconscious leader. And there has been found to be five to six years of time to recover emotionally, psychologically, from that trauma. And when I think about what's been happening in the world, and what will continue to happen, I feel concerned that our workplaces are not trauma informed. When we think about what's happening in Israel and Palestine, when we think about all the people that have died in the Ukraine, when we think about the climate related traumas that will happen as we have more fires and water shortages, and people are displaced from their homes, I'm bringing these two together when we think about unconscious leaders and trauma, because in my experience, a lot of unconscious leaders are acting from trauma, they're not getting the resources that they need. Or they're not even really aware that they have this deeper trauma to to work on. And so I wanted to get your opinion on one, how do we really inform our workplaces around trauma, so that HR professional so that the C suite is availing people of resources to get the healing to get the help? But also, what does it look like to remove a people leader who is creating so much trauma to everyone else in the organization, we remove them from being a leader of people to potentially working in some other skill set that is not influencing and managing so many people? So there's kind of two questions in there. What do you think about Coco Brown 24:11 I think on the, on the, on the sort of global traumas, you know, the, the, the things that we look at and affect us at a societal level, the job of the employer, the job of the leaders, is to understand how that is affecting the workforce and to be thoughtful about response. You know, I'm thinking about things like, you know, George, George Floyd and how much good, good response came out of that, but then also feels performative if it's not genuine and long lasting. And so I think there's an obligation in leadership to be be very thoughtful about what kinds of societal level impact the company can take on because at the same at the same time the company is running a business. So, you know, at the societal impact, where you're talking about an entire race of people that are everywhere around you, it does impact every single business at a societal impact where we're talking about a war in, in Europe, the Ukraine, it, it's societally traumatic and, and devastating at a business level. The question is, is this impacting our, our business? Our employees? You know, do we have Ukrainian employees who have, who are over there or have relatives or, you know, sort of being sensitive to the level of impact to the business and how that and what people need to be feel supportive? Supported. But one thing i i take a little bit of issue with any sort of sentiment that, that that implies that businesses have to take it all on? Because I don't think that that's fair, I think that a business is a business and at the end of the day, it has to make money or nobody gets paid, right. And so, it, it does need to be able to function, move on appropriately respond, and then be able to move on. And I think that is a tricky thing for us to figure out together. And I think we're really early days and in figuring that out. But but I think on the second layer question where you're where it's immediate, where the trauma that's being caused is, because of the behaviors of people at work, that trauma, you know, that's within the four walls of the business. And that's within the business's control. It's not just even influence, it's like, you've got a, you've got a leader here who's causing horrific experiences for the people around them. And they walk home depressed, and they walk home angry, and they want, you know, like, Whatever, whatever that that is happening, they feel depleted, they feel at least, then I do think that the business has an obligation to address that and figure that out. Like, it's not enough. sponsibility. Yeah, it's not enough to say that, well, that leader produces, their team is producing, they're getting the results, right, like, well, at what cost? Are they getting results? And are those results sustainable? And on a basic human level? Why do you want that, like, there's other people who can perform and get results that aren't also destroying everything in their path. Carley Hauck 27:49 And we know that there are a lot of leaders that are left in those people positions, you know, even very high up in the C suite that are not being held accountable. And again, you know, in my experience working with lots of leaders and studying this, they are leading from trauma that they're not actually getting the help for, and people are not, again, feeling empowered enough to really know how to navigate that. And so that's, that's where my interest in having HR leaders and whatnot, really being more informed on trauma, like what are the signs, how do we bring awareness to it? How do we hold it accountable? How do we help people get the healing that they need so that it isn't creating this toxic work environment for so many. And as you said, we spend the majority of our time at work. And research also shows that the two people that have the biggest influence on our psychological and emotional health is our boss and our partner at home. Coco Brown 28:54 Yes, so. Absolutely. Yeah, I think I do think that there's there are there are other things that also you know, sometimes it's not just it's not just the overt sort of bullying or bat, you know, sort of mean, mean behavior boss, it can be really deflating and super, I guess, deflating it to to work. Yeah, with an ineffective boss too. And I think that's the that's also you know, people want to be amazing, we all want to be amazing. We all want to do great stuff. We all want to be you know, contributing ways that make us feel like you know, like the kid who walked home with that little art project and you know, gives it to mom or dad for Valentine's Day like those the you want to feel amazing and that you're doing amazing things and that people love it and and so there's, you know, many ways I think leadership needs to be looked at and, and not just from the perspective of one person's point of view, but the entire or ecosystem around that leader is that leader effective is that leader, able to get great results out of a team that go beyond the things they're supposed to do to, you know, sort of the miracle moments that they can make. And that's about how, how leaders inspire others to take charge of themselves and self managing. Yeah, I, my, my chief of staff, I absolutely love her. She took me very seriously when I told her and she's, she's fast moving in our in our company, she's doing great. And when she first started working for me, I said, my two rules, time kills all deals, and it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. She went with it, right? And that was super like, she was like, yes. Awesome. And not everybody likes that. Right? But she was like, self empowered, and very confident and, you know, used to being able to figure things out so that those statements were really fabulous for her. They're fabulous for her and me in our dynamic, you know, though that same statement to somebody else might be exactly the wrong way to manage them and may not be the right management relationship. So I think no, no, it's a complex one here. Carley Hauck 31:22 Well, in your you know, I think the other piece around leadership is, especially in the midst of COVID. I believe that we are really reassessing what are the leadership competencies that we need now? What are the responsibilities we're putting on leaders? Is it too much? Are people even equipped to take on the responsibility of leadership? Just because they can be promoted doesn't mean that they should. And so I know, one of the things that you and I feel really passionate about is, how do we lead together? Because I do believe there is way too much responsibility on one leaders shoulders, and how are we empowering others to help us lead? What do you think about that leading together? How do you? How do we do? Yeah, Coco Brown 32:07 I think, Well, I think there's, I think there's a lot of that we're actually about to do a salon on we're about to do a salon on five generations, we're in the workforce, and we've got a silent generation, baby boomer, Gen X, or millennial, and Z. And we're talking about how do we work together. And I think this is kind of at that. The heart of that, like, I believe that the hero CEO CEO is no longer relevant either, if you're a leader is not relevant, like where, you know, you're bringing a lifetime of career wisdom and guidance. And so you know, the formula in your playbook that you've used over and over again, is the one you're going to apply again here. And it's that, you know, you've you've refined this playbook and so you come in, and this is what you do. Like, that's just not the right way to operate in today's world, I because too, there's too many complexities to the way people learn the way people communicate the way people take in information, you know, everything's so different now that you have to be able to collaborate as a leader and figure out who am I dealing with it because one size does not fit all. And, and therefore, your playbook also does not fit all, because to me, every single thing comes down to a people that I started and people I'm always in people, people is everything to me, I think it's you know, all about how you organize, organize and structure people is kind of the key to, to the product side of things and, and everything else. So So I think, you know, on that front, too, I've had my end Miss kind of reflects back to some of the other things we're talking about. I, I had a moment in time, a day, a day where my my husband asked me, he said, and you were really frustrated with, you know, whoever you were talking to, on on the phone and and, and in my own mind, I couldn't pinpoint the moment. So I was like, Oh my gosh, I've been frustrated all day. And you know, that was a long meeting. And I was like, Well, who was I talking to? He's like, I don't know. And it was, you know, maybe around 11 I couldn't quite figure out and then later that the next day, maybe it was my daughter said, Oh mom, you are really laying in on so and so you know on my team and I was like I did. I was like you're right. I did I really was. And so I went to my board. And I said hey, I think I need a CEO review and what's wrong with being and and they said, We don't want to be I don't want to be an asshole and I don't I don't want to be the frustrated leader who's you know, like I told you guys this before and so there's a problem right? There's the when when you feel like you're repeating yourself, you're like I I've said this before we've we've gone over this before, you know why can't I get through and you know, and no, we're not going to do that. And you know, when when you find yourself in this situation where you're like, why don't they understand? Or why can't they get it? Or why you know, which is, I think a lot of like a unidirectional leadership view. And so my point is, is that no matter where you sit in the organization, I sit at the top, there's always something around me that I can draw from and say, Okay, we're not, we're not doing this right together. And I'm a piece of that. How do I make this Carley Hauck 35:26 work? Well, right, what is the impact of me saying this having on this group, because for some reason, there isn't shared understanding or shared agreement on next steps? That's kind of what I'm hearing, right? Coco Brown 35:40 Yeah. And sometimes it's just, you know, we're all looking at an elephant and firmly believing that we're all talking about the foot right now and somebody else's when we're not talking about something else, and perhaps it's the hey, we're talking about the fact that the, you know, elephant is not ready. You know, we don't have not ready to go back in the wild, it's that we often think that things are more obvious than they are, and that they are easier to, to understand and come together and align on. And these things should be simple and formulaic. And it's just, it's complicated. Carley Hauck 36:15 So what would be the first step that C suite leaders and, you know, Chief People officers should be thinking about as far as strategy and creating a different infrastructure to empower people, leaders to lead together being met, you've worked in so many different functions within the organization? Yeah, would you say? What's the first step that they might want to start to think about and put in place? Coco Brown 36:47 I think that from, if it hasn't happened from the beginning, it should happen now. Which is, things trickle down from the top. And I think it's very important that the CEO and her team, and then the team below that, and then the team below that, and the team below that, they they're very articulate about what it means to funk to be high functioning together, and what kinds of things they accept, and don't accept and believe together, because collectively, we will all say the right things like, of course, you shouldn't do this, and you shouldn't do that. And if leadership really buys in at the top, then it can go to the next layer, and the next layer and a n, the people function can be the facilitators of that, you know, I think, when you have a leadership team at the top that is really aligned and clear on what it how it will and will behave and what it calls out and how it calls it out, and how it works together to shape and solve things, then they take that back to their team who can take it back to their team and the HR team that is often embedded in different parts of the organization can can reinforce that and, and, and help you the facilitators until they get there and things are muscle memory, I think I think I've always been my my greatest passion in the HR field has, and it's where I started was on the people management side of things on training, we would take our best engineers and make the managers and then they be horrible managers. And I would train them I'd sit with them while they did reviews and meetings and give them feedback and help them figure it out. And that's what I did in my in my 20s. And it was I had an instinct for it. I had a psychology degree, I think psychology is a really important feature of business that maybe we need more rigorous discipline around having psychic ability and understanding Carley Hauck 39:02 how to actually relate and communicate and collaborate. Right. Those are those are people skills, those are power skills. And that's again, why I was speaking to to the trauma piece because most people that are going through deeper training as I did, because I was trained as a therapist first before I went into coaching and l&d and organizational development is I worked with deeply traumatized populations for a long time. And that informs the foundation of everything else that I do. I agree with you. I think some deeper training is needed in the in the people function. And as we are coming more to a close, I wanted to just leave you with another question as we're thinking about, really this new paradigm, the opportunity the response It's ability to be conscious companies to have more conscious leadership competencies that we're training for that we're encouraging that we're holding you accountable? Where is the role of the woman in this, like these more maybe feminine qualities we can call them? Yeah. Coco Brown 40:23 Well, I think the feminine feminine qualities and business are gaining power, which is important, like you see, chief customer officer that didn't that role didn't even exist 10 years ago. And and it's a very important and powerful role within the business and chief marketing officers and the Human Resources Officer, Chief People officers moving out from under the CFO and having you know, they are the hero role of the last four year at Carley Hauck 40:53 the table. Yeah, they're, they're at the table. Coco Brown 40:55 It's their table, as someone said, it, you know, and so you see the roles that women have traditionally had more of a presence in the marketing, customer communications people, they are taking more and more leadership roles. And those roles are taking more and more power in the business, which, at an equal level, it's not to say that, like, the technology roles and whatnot are diminishing, it's just that the roles that have been thought of as the softer skill roles, the the people oriented roles are, are, are being valued at a different level than than they ever have been in the past. And that's, that's great. And, and that's the feminine coming into power in the workforce, whether it's a man or a woman running that role. And I think kind of going along with the no hero, CEO, individual CEOs are expected to take on the feminine and they're expected to be vulnerable and collaborative and communicative. And, you know, they're, they're expected to have these feminine qualities and in addition to the risk taking and the fight for Carley Hauck 42:08 the empathy, right, yeah, consider male qualities. Coco Brown 42:12 So you see that in a Satya Nadella versus a guy who came before him Scott Ballmer, super soft as an example. Carley Hauck 42:23 And it would make sense that having more women in board seats would also support more of that feminine coming through, and and making sure that the leaders that are put in those seats, are exemplifying more of these conscious leadership qualities, wouldn't you think? Coco Brown 42:44 Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, I just as we value family structures that have multiple generations and genders and skill sets, we would never take that and say, you know, what the best structure is for just one gender to, you know, raise this child. With one point of view like that, it doesn't make any more sense in sort of a neighborhood family societal structure than it does in a business structure. It just, it just doesn't and, and then beyond that, women are just as capable as men and in every domain, and so there's no reason that we should be locked out. And and then we also come from perspective, if half of the population is female, that's half of your customer base to so in some form or fashion. And so, you know, you need to understand them. And that's a great reason to have them around the table. Carley Hauck 43:42 Mm hmm. Well, Coco, thank you so much for your thought leadership on all of these important and juicy topics. I also wanted to invite you to leave anything with our listeners, or is there is there a topic that we didn't cover that you'd like to share on right now? Coco Brown 44:02 Um, well, I, you know, we do a lot of work in this space. And one thing we've noticed, for sure is, women are not done yet. And I'm sure that's true about men too. But we spend a lot of time with women and women who have 2030, maybe even 40 year careers behind them, and they're looking at the next 1020 30 years and figuring out how they're going to build portfolios of impact. And I highly encourage, you know, anyone listening to check out Athena and look at our courses that we do unleash your impact and, and talk to us about, about how we support careers and we also support people leaders to bring cohorts to Athena and, and help them elevate their leadership, both male and female in this case, and so there's lots of we, we've we spend a lot of time on it. In the realm of elevating, supporting, advancing leadership and be happy to have your half the listeners, check us out. Carley Hauck 45:13 Definitely, yes, I wholeheartedly recommend Athena as a wonderful resource and network and community. One question that I was feeling curious about because I know that there are a lot of senior executives within Athena that are advising and or looking to get on boards. What advice would you give to a woman leader in her 30s or 40s, that wants to step into advising other companies? How early should she start? And what are the steps that she can take? Coco Brown 45:55 She should start the moment she starts her career in thinking about how far she can go and opening the aperture. Like the best way to create an incredible career that has lots of doors opening and paths that you can follow and opportunities ahead of when you even thought they would happen is by being curious. And by having a utility player mindset, you know, being very interested in the business, not just your function, your tower. And so the earlier you start that the bigger your career will become and and advisory work is a great way to, you know, to get into more of an understanding across a business. So I would say specifically, learn about the boardroom, learn about what happens there. As you find yourself if you start to find yourself in like, you know, director level senior director level, that's the time when you have to start looking left and right in the organization, you have to build strategic perspective, you have to have the utility player mindset, you have to start thinking about your career advancement, not in terms of just what's my next promotion, what's my next title? But how do I look left and right in my in the business and make myself relevant outside of my direct in impact, sort of the story I told earlier about how I got them to keep the San Francisco office open, right, that led to me becoming the VP of professional services at 20 years old, like it's, it's looking across the business is, is what's going to allow you to keep climbing and that's the same thing. And advisory work is if you're being asked to come in and advise a company because of a skill set you have, you know, use that opportunity to to look across the business and learn about it. Yeah, I can't say enough about getting started early and being curious. Carley Hauck 48:00 And then if that person did want to move into advising, let's say a startup, then how would they do that? Would they reach out to that startup? What What would you advise? Coco Brown 48:10 Build your network is my advice. I mean, you you know, join a community like Athena where you can get to know entrepreneurs and get to know investors and get to know the places you know, the people who can introduce you to founders and investors who would be looking for people who could provide guidance and advice. And as I was talking, I was on a panel two weeks ago with a with a guy who awesome guy who got his big big break and basically, board work and investing work and in in and advising work, because he was the buyer of a product zoom, which we all use. And he ended up on the advisory board of that company in the very early days advising the see. And you know, what, a big break, right? So you're, maybe you're in a buying position and in the roles that you're in and the companies that are coming and pitching their products to you. You can say you can say, Look, this product is not ready. It's not primetime for my company, but I want to advise you, I want to help you. I like what you're doing here. You know, I would, I would say, that's one way of networking into into that opportunity. But putting yourself in the ecosystem requires relationship building, Carley Hauck 49:38 and getting curious and learning. I hear that. Wonderful. Well, Coco, thank you so much for your time. We will leave show notes in order for people to find you on LinkedIn to look into Athena. And I just really appreciate your leadership and your contribution. Thank you so much. Unknown Speaker 49:59 Thank You. Carley Hauck 50:02 Wow, what a fabulous conversation. Some of the questions that Coco and I were trying to answer in this interview were, how do we lead together? What is the appropriate response in our complex world and workplace? How do we equip our leaders and ourselves with the skills and competencies to be effective to thrive, and to create high trust inclusive organizations that people want to stay in. If you want to connect more with cocoa or learn more about it, you know alliances, the links are in the show notes. And before we part, here are some high level takeaways that you can implement today. manage yourself, it is a complex time. And the more that we can cultivate the skills to increase our self awareness, self management, humility, and empathy, we will be the leaders that our world needs. Now, this is going to support more effective communication, collaboration, and resolution in the midst of conflict. And these typically are the biggest three people problems that I have seen. I call them the three C's manage down laterally and up with remote distributed workforce, we need to begin to have conversations that invite people to share the responsibility together. When decisions are made unilaterally, it increases a sense of inclusion and trust across the leadership team and the organization. How can we create self organizing teams, and really put in agreements and accountability to support us to lead together this is an area I feel super passionate about, I help senior leadership teams with this all the time. So if you need help, reach out, I am here. And then lastly, invest in learning and leadership development for everyone at the company. This is the best way we can establish more community and connection in these times. It also is going to make sure that everybody has the skills to collaborate, to communicate, and to find healthy resolution during conflict. A fina has resources in this domain. And I have focused my life on creating content courses at Stanford, and even finding metrics to really measure these really important skills. And I have found wonderful results with the leaders and the companies that I have had the privilege to exclusively partner with, we have found huge increases in important leadership competencies, increased retention, internal mobility, psychological safety. And if you want to learn more about some of my experience, Coco and I did a podcast interview earlier on in the season, which I will highlight in the show notes and it talks about what the leadership skills are needed to create a thriving and healthy organizational culture, and how I am your next great leadership hire to solve for this. Many folks are hiring for internal director and above and learning talent and leadership development. And this is the role that I am so excited to accept and to serve. I am interviewing right now. And I would love if you would consider me for any new opportunities that you are looking to fill before end of year. If you want to reach out to me find me on LinkedIn or go to my email, Carley at Carley helped.com. And I would love to set up a meeting with you or be introduced to somebody that you think would be a good fit. And lastly, for HR leadership and talent, as Coco and I talked about, it's really important that people but especially people leaders have the depth of knowledge around people. No, Coco said she studied psychology. So have I and my foundation was as a therapist. And so I worked for two, three years with different populations experiencing trauma. And we all have trauma. We have it individually, collectively and intergenerationally. And it is impacting the workforce. So if you want to have more resources around this topic, please reach out I'd be happy to help and I have wonderful connections in this space I can introduce you to if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. You can also give a five star rating to the shine podcast make sure that people find us You and I have some incredible interviews left throughout the season continue to tune in and until we meet again Viva light and shine your light

Mastering the Balance: Self-Management, Leading Together, and Courageous Leadership with Mary Abbajay & Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2023 64:49

Description: How do we heal and transform society through conscious leadership? Conscious leadership is a turning towards oneself and the questions of one's life. A conscious leader asks what lines will I not cross ethically? What really matters? What is mine to guard and protect? What is mine to heal and restore? How can I be in service in society? We can only become a conscious leader by developing the qualities on the inside that support conscious action on the outside. In this podcast interview with my friend Mary Abijaay, you will learn the root cause of unconscious leadership, how to manage yourself in the face of unconscious leaders, how to manage up in the midst of difficulty, and what to pay attention to in yourself and others to determine how to achieve success with your boss at work. Episode Links: Mary's Book Mary on LinkedIn From Triggered to Triumph- Team Experience with Carley How to Coach a Harmful and Unconscious Leader with Carley Navigating Triggers Meditation with Carley Polyvagal Theory- How to Befriend Your Nervous System with Deb Dana HBR Article- We need trauma informed Workplaces SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social: LinkedIn IG Website Shine Podcast Page IMPERFECT SHOW NOTES Carley Hauck 0:10 Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am host of the shine podcast. This podcast has been flickering strong since May 2019. I began the podcast due to all the research I was conducting in interviews with organizational leaders, lead scientists, academic researchers and spiritual teachers for my new book shine, ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. I wrote my book to inspire a new paradigm of conscious leadership and business that was in service of higher purpose to help humans flourish, and regenerate our planet. The podcast focuses on the science and application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about the theme of our season, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on shine or go to your favorite podcast platform carrier. That way you don't miss one episode. Thank you. This season is going to be focused on what leadership skills are most needed to create a healthy organizational culture. Leadership and manager effectiveness has been deemed the number one priority for HR and 2023. And every person listening whether you have a formal leadership title or not, you are a leader. We all have the responsibility to lead around something that we care about whether it's at home with our family, and our communities and or in the workplace. And on to the podcast. Hello shine podcast listeners. Thank you so much for joining me in this wonderful conversation with my friend Mary Abby, Jay. And Mary. Just a quick intro for folks. I actually found you a couple years ago when I was listening to Sarah holds podcast advice to my younger me, but she just actually finished she finished the podcast I saw her like last post I think it was last week. But I found Sara because she wrote this fabulous book with the same name advice to my younger me and I frankly thought Why didn't I know this in my 30s? Why am I now just discovering this in my 40s Well, she hadn't read it. She hadn't written it yet. And as part of her research, she researched all these incredible women leaders and you were one of the very first interviews that she did and you just really resonated and So I kind of had been holding this idea to reach out and then I did and voila. And I'm so happy. You're connected. And thank you so much for your work. Mary Abbajay 5:10 Well, Carly, that's so sweet. Now I just kind of feel like I just said good night Detroit. Like Thank you tip your waitresses, because that was really, really lovely. Yeah, Sarah is lovely person. And I was so delighted when you reached out to me, so I'm really excited to be here. So thanks for having me. Carley Hauck 5:24 Well, thank you. Could you share a little bit with our listeners about the work that you're doing in the world? And and also anything else you want to share about you as a person? identities? All those pieces? All those hats? We were right. Mary Abbajay 5:41 Oh, my gosh. So well, you know, I'm an introvert. So this is like my worst nightmare to talk about myself. But for you for you, Carly, I will do it. Hello, Shine listeners. My name is Mariana J. I am an organizational development consultant, I have a little boutique firm, called Career stone group. And we like to say that we help people make workplaces that are productive and positive. And we help people to be productive and positive in their workplaces. I'm a Gemini, I live in Washington, DC, I am married with one little furbaby named Valentino, he's a little rescue shitzu, if you've ever heard of such a thing, and I'm the author of a book called Managing Up, how to move up when at work and succeed with any type of boss, and it's all about how you can really take control of your career and be successful. I love what I do. I am a workaholic. Mostly because I love my work. Because I get to do cool things like this all the time. And that really, really feeds my soul, I have this diluted sense that by helping people make their work lives better, I'm doing just a little bit to make the world a better place. So that's, that's kind of under passion about what I do. So that's, that's me. Carley Hauck 6:54 Thank you. I love hearing all those other parts about you. Some of those I knew, because you're pretty transparent in the book. Well, I have to say this book is phenomenal. Like I have a high bar for books, being an author myself. And I just think this is so needed. And so for those of you that have had a boss or have a boss, they'll get this book, there will be links in the show notes, show notes, but I highly recommended. And before I even got to the part, where you share in the book, Why you actually ended up kind of writing this book, I had this intuition, I bet she had a really bad boss. And for all of them. Oh, wow. Yeah. And so that's really where I wanted to go in our in our conversation today. So they're kind of a couple of threads, I wanted to speak about how we manage ourselves first self management, so that we can confidently and powerfully manage up with any kind of boss. And I also wanted to talk a little more deeply about some of the root causes of why people are acting unconsciously, we could call them you know, bad bosses, I often like to use unconscious leaders because sometimes these behaviors, and even the wounding that is causing these behaviors are unconscious. And so instead of healing, they're hurting, and they're harming people in the workplace. I also wanted to bring in a little bit of the research that I have done and the framework on what are the conscious leadership qualities that we can grow, so that we can actually be more conscious leaders, and people don't have to manage us so much. And then lastly, I'd love to ask you some questions about what you can actually be assessing, when you're first having interviews with this potential new hire or new boss, and also what you might be able to do in the first 90 days to 100 days. And then I thought it could be fun if we role played one of the vos personalities and how you might manage yourself and how you might manage them. So we have a meaty discussion here. Unknown Speaker 9:20 I love it. I can't wait. Carley Hauck 9:22 Thank you. Thank you. Well, for folks that have been listening to the shine podcast, you know that I started this podcast because it was part of the research that I was conducting on my book on conscious leadership. And part of the reason that I wrote that book was because I was seeing lots and lots of folks in different industries over 10 years that were possessing certain qualities of consciousness that then supported more high performing teams psychological safety trust, well being and they were the exception, unfortunately. not the rule. So as a way to discern, and really bring in this framework, I had to see a lot of unconscious leadership, personally and professionally. And so, Mary, this brings us back to the reason that you wrote this book. It sounds like you had multiple leaders that and bosses that were really hard to navigate and to manage up. Do you feel like sharing any story from any one of those? Mary Abbajay 10:33 Oh, yeah. I mean, I share a lot of them in the books me I had, you know, and I think throughout, first of all, all the bad bosses I had led me to decide that if they could be a bad boss, I could be my own bad boss. I didn't need someone else being an asshole. I could be an asshole to myself, like, I didn't need that. So I have so many bad bosses is one of the reasons why I went, I became an entrepreneur. I'm like, I can do this. Like, I don't need this above me. So all in all, it was a good thing. You know, I had a boss, I had a boss that was a horrible micromanager, just horrible, horrible, horrible. I had a boss who was a screaming, shouting bully. I had a boss that was just completely incompetent, inadequate. And of all these bosses, I did have one boss, who was amazing, who was the kind of boss that really partnered with you. He was the kind of boss that really encouraged you. And he was kind of boss that that you could really flourish with. So I have had one good boss, well, the PROSPER not very good, but only one was toxic. And so as we talk about, like difficult bosses or difficult people or unconscious leadership, I think there's a big difference between someone who is an okay person, but not a good boss, right? A good boss for you. But there are people so that maybe they're unconscious of the impact of their of their bossing behaviors. But I do hope we do talk a little bit about like those that are not good people. They're more than unconscious. They're, they're the toxic people, because I think that's a real problem in the world. Carley Hauck 12:06 It is, it is an actually, I wanted to go there a little bit with you right now. So thank you for sharing all of that. So this was one of the quotes that I found in your book, and I, you know, I bring research into everything that I am also talking about, because it it really grounds it in a certain reality, especially for those skeptics, but you shared that research shows that it takes up to 22 months to emotionally and psychologically recover from the trauma of a psycho crazy bully tyrannical screaming egomaniac boss. Yeah, that's a long time. Yeah. And so what would Mary Abbajay 12:47 you say? I'll tell you, Carly. So you know, that was the research that I found a couple of years ago, and I wrote the book. And since then, I have probably spoken to well over like 10s and 10s of 1000s of people. And in every crowd, there's going to be 20%, who have had a psycho crazy, tyrannical, toxic boss, right? And I always ask people, How long did it take you to recover? And I think the 22 months was conservative, because I am hearing people talk about the trauma 23456 years later. So I think that 22 months is actually if I was to rewrite the book today, I might say up to five years, because I have met way too many people that are still struggling and still recovering from that trauma years and years after. Carley Hauck 13:35 I just feel such sadness and heaviness in my heart. Because I know part of why you and I are both here is we want to create healing organizations know that let work be a place where we can thrive. Thank you for for sharing that. Yeah. Mary Abbajay 13:52 And I will say this to any of your listeners, because this is really like this just gets my goat that we still in the 21st century. With all we know about neuroscience with all we know about organizational effectiveness and engagement, that organizations still allow toxic leaders in their organization. It just like I was, you know, we just saw the thing about Jimmy Fallon, like every week and these are famous people. Think about all those organizations that don't have famous leaders that nobody cares that this is happening. So you know, I want people to realize that if you are working in a toxic situation, you have to get out. No one is coming to save you. HR isn't coming to save you. They may want to save you they don't usually have the power to save you because the toxic people usually sit at the very top and toxic workplaces will make you physically ill you have a 60% increased likelihood of cardiac diseases stroke, it decimates your immune system, making you susceptible to all sorts of diseases like flus cold ulcers, it decimated You know, your emotional field, your psychological field, your mental health. And we know that people stay in toxic situations two years longer than they stay in other non toxic situations, because there's a lot of toxicity that goes on and what we call high meaning careers. fields like law fields, like medicine, fields, like politics, fields, like government. So people will tend to stay longer in these fields, because they really love their job, or they're passionate about what they're doing and for whom nonprofits is also a big place for toxicity. And so people tend to stay much longer, I just have to tell you, if you if you are in a toxic situation, you have to get out 10s of 1000s of people, I've asked this other question, too, how long did it take you to recover? And did you leave too soon, not one person has ever said they'd love to soon. They didn't leave soon enough. Carley Hauck 15:58 Thank you for sharing that. And I do believe that some of these conscious leadership qualities that we're going to talk about will actually one really help us to know our value to know our worth, and be able to manage ourselves more quickly, so that we can manage up. But I agree with you. And also would love to just talk about the deeper aspect of why these folks are showing up in the way that they are. We all have trauma, you know, individually, collectively, intergenerationally. And there are folks that are not doing their inner work, have not done their inner work. And frankly, the workplace has not always and mostly has not invested in learning or leadership development. That is why Leadership Development Manager effectiveness is thankfully the number one priority for HR right now. Because that's the only way we're going to be able to create a future of work that actually works for people. And hallelujah, for the younger generations that are really speaking up, they're more socially engaged, they're saying no, and they are the bulk of the workforce. So we have to change, because otherwise no one's going to come to work. Mary Abbajay 17:22 We do have to change, you know, the challenge will be with this change is that will HR be empowered to actually make a difference? I fear that some of this will go by the wayside, like D Ay ay ay is going a little bit by the wayside. Because at the end of the day, a lot of private sector organizations and nonprofit organizations always put their bottom line value on how much money is this organization making. And so I think one that challenges for HR when the opportunities is for them to show the bottom line, cash money value of actually investing in good leadership and good management, and employee health and an employee engagement. And it might take a newer generation of the C suite executives to actually place that value, right to actually be open to looking at that value. Because at the end of the day, for a lot of corporations, Money talks, and employee health walks us. So I really do, I really am I'm very hopeful. And a little cautious around this, I just hope that we can get the C suite to see the actual money value of being a good leader. Because you know, you see all these toxic leaders are all these bad leaders. They're just all these unhappy, low employee, low engagement places, and they still don't do anything about it. So we've got a kind of a new breed of C suites, they actually appreciate this, I think, Carley Hauck 18:49 well, and that's where really investing in leadership development to invest in how to be a co leadership Mary Abbajay 18:55 development only works if the top tier leadership places a value on it. Right? So I'm the you and I are both trainers, right? So we go in and we teach all the great skills, how to be, you know, a great leader, a great manager. And if they aren't rewarded for that, that doesn't happen, right? So their top leaders don't actually invest in making sure and holding those managers accountable for being good people, managers, the managers don't have any incentive. You take an organization, I think it's Deloitte or Accenture, I was getting confused. They got very serious about making sure their managers were more people centric. And so the managers part of their performance review is are you having? I think they have to do like monthly check ins with their people, are you and they're actually grading the managers on the success of their people in terms of their people's happiness and their engagement levels. And that seems to be working. So I think if we're going to do the leadership development, that's the carrot but you also need the reward? Carley Hauck 20:01 Well, I I agree with you. And, you know, going back to what you were sharing, there is more retention, there is more internal mobility, you know, there is more employee well being and people do want to stay when there are strong conscious leaders of the home. Yes, but But going back to leadership development, I started off with my path as a therapist, so I worked a lot with traumatized populations. And so I feel trauma informed on you know, the signs to look for. But we need to be assessing like, who has trauma and who doesn't, and who is doing the inner work, so that that's not being repeated, and they're now traumatizing other people. So I, I don't know if the workplace is ready for that. But like, that's the other piece we have to solve. We have to actually equip trainers, coaches, HR on being informed about trauma, and then and then solutions for healing. Yeah, that's just that's another piece that I see. So we are talking a bit about, you know, leadership manager, effectiveness being the number one priority in HR. And I wanted to talk a little bit about this conscious leadership framework, because I think it complements really well, some of the pieces in your book, and your research. So I distilled that there were nine different leadership competencies, that all worked in tandem, and actually on a continuum. And every person has different ranges of use, but when they're all actually dialed in, at the same time, we end up leading from our best selves, we can empower and lead our teams, we can increase trust, psychological safety, inclusion, innovation, without burning our folks out or further traumatizing them. And so I always like to kind of put myself you know, in the ring and ask my, my guests as well, where they think they are falling on some of these dimensions. So there, there are nine, which is self awareness, self management, empathy, resilience, which is a growth mindset, humility, self belonging, which is really including the dimensions of self love, self compassion, self forgiveness, self acceptance, and then physical, and psychological well being. And so not to put you too much on the spot, Mary, but I feel curious, what are one or two areas that you feel like as a leader, you're really prioritizing you, you're leading from this place, so you can lead others in a more conscious way? Mary Abbajay 22:55 I think for me, I think there's four that I think there's four, I don't know that I prioritize them. But there's four that I think are, are very prevalent in my day to day in my life, and one is self management. I am I'm constantly trying to self manage myself, I try to think about how do I need to say this was my impact for your listeners to know I'm actually like, I'm talking really slow right now. And it's really hard for me, like so like really trying to like in, you know, I'm a very direct, fast paced, you know, I'm a high strung type a person, so I'm always trying to manage that. So self management is a very big priority for me. My empathy is pretty strong. My husband says, It's my Libra moon, and my rising Gemini. I know, that's silly. My husband's on to the horoscope. But I do and I think empathy is really great. I think sometimes empathy gets in the way for me making tough decisions. But there's something that I don't want to lose resilience and a growth mindset are things I really try to prioritize, you cannot be as you know, a business owner, and not have to not cultivate resiliency, and a growth mindset. Because the minute you think that you you're all that in a bag of chips, you're gonna get smacked down. And the minute you think your business is all going good, you're gonna lose a big client. And the minute you think, you know, everything and you start, you stop being a learner, you're gonna lose it. And then humility, I think, I think I tend to be a very humble person. And I think humility is really important. Maybe it verges on the, on the side of self deprecation, which isn't necessarily so good. But yeah, so those are the four that I think are most prevalent in my life. Carley Hauck 24:35 Thank you. Yeah. Thank you self management, of resilience. And then I heard in humility, being humility. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Mary Abbajay 24:46 I can reach my husband says, that means I let my team walk all over me. He's like, You need to just you just need to lay down the lawn like Oh, but they're really busy. I'll just take on this piece of work for them. Carley Hauck 24:57 So when you talk about self management? What are your tips for self managing? I heard you say that you're trying to talk slowly. Why are you trying to do that right now in this moment, Mary Abbajay 25:10 because I lose the idea myself on my podcast and other people's podcasts or on, you know, video of me and I am talking way too fast. So I'm trying to slow it down so that people can hear me and understand. And plus, sometimes my mouth moves faster than my brain. That's not always a great thing. But yeah, so when I say self management, I, you know, I'm fairly aware of my, of my tendencies that are not going to have positive impact on people. So I do set an intention around a handful of my less than lovely qualities to try to make them more palatable to other people. I'm a big believer in the platinum rule, you know, really find out to treat others as they want to be treated. And so self managing myself around people who operate differently than me, is something I really work on. I work hard on trying to do. Carley Hauck 26:04 Hmm, thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate it. You know, where do you think some of the more unconscious leaders? Where do you think they might be lower Mary Abbajay 26:17 self awareness completely, is completely with self awareness, and then self management. So you know, I think, first of all, let's be honest, human beings are as are not very self aware, we like to think we're self aware. But we are not, I think it's Adam Grant that talks a lot about the lack of our self awareness. And not only are we not really self aware about what's driving us, we really lack awareness, and concern, I think about how our actions, our words, or deeds, and our behaviors are impacting other people. I really liked Tasha, Europe's work on this, in your book insight, where she did, she does a lot of work with C suite executives. And she found like 95% of them think that they're highly, highly self aware, and that she did some research on that by interviewing their teams. And something like only 15 15% of them actually were self aware. So I think that I think self awareness, especially around your impact on others, how other people experience you is very, very low in leaders. And I think it gets worse, as leaders go up the chain of command, because as you go up the chain of command, first of all, people stop giving you feedback, right? They stop telling you the truth about who you are. And I think quite frankly, people start believing their own shit, I'm sorry, that's French, for married, people start believing their own stuff, like I'm so good, I'm this, I'm this important. I'm so smart. I'm up here in the C suite. And I think that people really lose a lot of their self awareness. And if you don't have self awareness, you're not gonna be able to do self management. And the other thing I think that happens in leadership, is, as you were pointing out, we don't necessarily do a great job in America, of actually developing our leaders or managers before they become leaders or managers. Harvard did a study on this a few years back, and they found most managers get their first taste of being a supervisor or a manager in their late 20s, or early 30s. But they don't get significant training on that until their late 30s, early 40s. So for 10 years, they're just kind of making it up, right. And if they're trying to make it up based on a culture that has poor management examples, or poor leadership examples, then they're not going to get any self awareness, therefore, they're not going to get the self management about how the impact of their management style is working or not working. Carley Hauck 28:36 Agreed. And, you know, most people leaders have been advanced for their technical skills, not because of their people skills. That's exactly right. And they're still calling people skills, soft skills. But if we can't manage or empower our people, we're not going to be able to get the deliverables or the business objectives done. Like it's just not going to happen. Mary Abbajay 29:00 I know. And the other thing that I see Carly is that there's a lot of people that are managers, or leaders, they don't really want to manage the people, right? And so it's if you want to be a good people manager, if you're only taking that job to make more money or advance your career, which I understand, but if you don't want the people part of the job, then where's the incentive for you to become self aware, right, or to be have self manage or even to have the the humility or the empathy or the resilience from other people management? Carley Hauck 29:31 So hearing that most people are not very self aware, one of the things that I know that I do, and that I would hope to encourage in more learning and leadership development programs, and I don't do it all the time, but I try to, is to check in on. So what's your reaction to what I just said? Like what was the impact of that? Yeah, and yeah, that takes it down a notch and it does take more time. But how was My Message received? Because if we don't ask, then people are likely not always going to tell us, you and I are more direct. So we will probably tell people in a kind, indirect way, but most people don't feel safe. They don't either feel safe in themselves, or they don't have the courage to say it out loud. Because that that also has not been something that has been very promoted in our culture is Mary Abbajay 30:27 I think you're right. And I think you have bosses like telling me the truth, I want to hear it. But you know, they don't, because their past behavior has shown you that they don't. So I think that's always a very interesting thing. You know, and I think, you know, when you're talking about managing up, you know, I think self awareness and self management is really key for managing up. And so I often tell people, you know, if you really want to understand your impact on people, the best way to do that, and you can do the 360. But it's really to reach out to like, 10 of your colleagues and say, What five adjectives would you use to describe me? What like, what do people say about me when I'm not in the room? You know, what skills or talents Am I known for, and asking the people that will be honest with you, and then being really open to hearing that. So I think that if we can start developing our self awareness of how we as humans, impact other human beings, early on in our career, I think that really helps us develop that openness to feedback, the openness to take a look at ourselves as we move up into the food chain. This is also why I actually do whenever I do like those personality, things like the disc or predictive index, or Myers Briggs, I really liked those in the sense of, if it can open up people's minds as to understanding the difference between their intention and their impact. I think we can go a long way, just knowing that as you know, an introvert, just because I'm not talking doesn't mean I don't care about you, or you know, as a ad on the desk, just because I'm very direct with you. It doesn't mean I don't care about you. So I think the more we can understand how the how our behaviors may be misinterpreted by other people, I think that can help develop more self awareness. Carley Hauck 32:16 Hmm, loving all this input. Thank you. Yeah. The next area that I wanted to go into, and I love that you said, you know, self awareness, self management are the pieces that you think are really low. And these unconscious leaders, I would also say empathy, and humility, which were two of your strengths, I think they tend to be more of my strengths as well, you know, if you can admit that you're, you got it wrong, you made a mistake. If you can't actually emphasize that empathize with what's actually happening for the other person, then again, you're not going to be able to be a very conscious caring leader. Mary Abbajay 32:53 I agree. I just got a call from a law firm that wants me to help them teach their mid mid career associates how to give feedback, they said it, can you also teach them how to be more empathetic? Yes, I will try. But things like empathy, like that's a hard thing to teach. Right, Carly? I mean, you can explain it, you can demonstrate it, you can coach them. But that is kind of at some point, don't you think that empathy is a choice like that you must in some way choose to look at something from someone else else's perspective. At some point, you have to choose to whether or not you want to appreciate their experience or their so I'm curious to hear from you. Like, how do you teach empathy? Carley Hauck 33:40 Great question. Well, in chapter two of my book, which is the inner game of emotional intelligence, I talk about, you have the inner game, which is the self awareness and self management, and then you have the outer game. So when those are cultivated, then you're able to have more social awareness, which is oh, what might be happening for this person. And then number four is the relationship mastery. So those are actually the four facets of Dan Goleman emotional intelligence, however, like they really pertain to the inner cultivation, and then what shows up on the outside, but what, what I would say is, as far as helping people build empathy is that it's really helpful if you have them think about someone that they care about. So just imagine that this person is going through this right now. Like it could be their sister, it could be their daughter, it could be their mother. And once you bring it into somebody in their sphere and circle that they care about, it's much easier for them to then have empathy even for the difficult person. But you I would say start with someone they like first or you know, to build that empathy muscle and then you can start to expand it out even to have empathy for the difficult person because ultimately, it's that difficult person is just hurting, they're wounded, they've had trauma, right? They're not either so conscious of it, or they are conscious of it. But they're still a messy human. And so I can have compassion for their wounding, for their hurting, and also hold really strong boundaries around how I'm going to be put in the line of fire, and also call on allies. You know, this is one thing about managing those more toxic leaders in the eye 100% agree with you, you have to get out this is going in a different direction. But I had wanted to say this earlier, I had just forgotten, I think it's super important that we also find our allies, you know, in the workplace, that are practicing the same kinds of leadership skills, because who we surround ourselves with, is actually going to influence us the most. And if we can have a buffer of people that are validating our experience, that are also able to say, Hey, I had that experience with this person, too, then HR would feel more empowered to do something, right. It's called activating Mary Abbajay 36:10 your support network. That's how I refer to, but you know, but HR is only empowered as much as they're empowered. So we have to be really clear, I don't want to give people false hope, if you go to HR, your problems can be solved. It really depends on how much power HR has and who the toxic person is. Because there's also the whole whistleblower thing, like I could tell you horror stories about people that have went gone to HR and just made things worse for them. So it's really you gotta know, before, before anyone goes to HR, you really need to check out how well your HR has handled situations like this in the past, right? So ask around a little bit. But you know, it's funny, we're talking about empathy around like that. I teach that all the time, when I'm telling people to manage up as well, like, exactly like this person, this boss was a micromanager or this boss that's doing this are annoying you, you know, think for a minute, what's going on for them, right? Or think for a minute, I often do this make for men, the last time that you micromanage somebody, or the last time that you did behavior that you weren't proud of, you know, and that that can help kind of get people out of the amygdala hijack. Because what happens when we're dealing with difficult people, we get very frustrated, very fight or flight, you know, and so you got to get out of that in order to be able to make good choices. Carley Hauck 37:27 Definitely. Well, let's go into an example of a difficult manager and how we might manage ourselves and then manage up. And I also just want to share as I was reading through your book, and there's there's so many different manager types. I could relate more strongly to a few of them. And I'm bringing this up because in the chapter where we talk about the seagulls, which is the oh, goodness, sorry, the the nitpickers in the seagulls. Yeah, as I was, as I was actually reading through the nitpicker, because that comes first and then we go on to the seagulls. I love to the distinction that you put in is that the nitpickers are really about perfection versus the micromanagers are about control. But I'm springing this up because I could see how my team at times has thought of me as a nitpicker. Oh, sure. Because I have a high bar for excellence. Mary Abbajay 38:30 You know, the thing is, we've all done all these behaviors. We've all done them. All right, if you've worked long enough, but we don't judge ourselves as these things right? The circumstances, you know, so yeah, so the nitpicker so micro managers are about control. You're right. So most micro managers tend to be nitpickers. But not all nitpickers are micro managers. Because a nitpicker is the person that's going to nitpick small things for perfection. They may be important things or they might be minor things, you know, but they're probably gonna let you do your your gig your stuff, and then they're gonna swoop in afterwards and nitpick so I can be a nitpicker to my team will tell you that I nitpick their slideshows. That thought Saglie I don't like that graphic. I don't nitpick the content, which is the important thing, right? I have a certain visual I want. So yeah, understood. So if you have a nitpicky boss, it's really important to find out like what they care about, like, you know, like, is it the font? Is it the format? Is it the color? Is it the use of the Oxford comma or no Oxford comma, you know, so don't resist what the nitpicker was, and choose your battles wisely. You know, if you're just and be prepared for it. So if you know that your boss is going to nitpick something, then give them a draft an early draft and let them nitpick the early draft. Find out ask them questions ahead of time is the particular font you want is Is there a format you prefer? You know, what kind of graphics marry do you think would be great for this slideshow? That sort of thing? So find out, I was working with this law firm and this, we're doing a Managing Up course in this first year associate, you know, they have no power, first year associate comes up to me and says, Mary, I need your help. The Managing Partner won't use the extra comma. How can I give him that feedback that he's wrong? It's like, you know what you don't. If he doesn't want to use the extra comma, that's not a battle that that's not a hill, you want to die on your first year. So you have to pick your battles wisely. When it comes to the debt with nitpicker, and then ask questions like find out, you know, so Carly, why do you like things this way? Tell me about your preference for this. Because the more you can learn about what your boss cares about, the more you can figure out how to make things are more in alignment. Now, of course, we're not talking about things that are unethical, or things that are bad or wrong. We're talking about nitpicky things. Carley Hauck 41:04 Well, what I tell my team too, is like, if you're not clear on what I am actually asking for, then don't just do it and get it wrong. Because then I'm gonna go and tell you, you need to redo it. Like if there's even an wrinkle of I don't know if this is right, just text me call me asked me. Let's have a conversation. Because otherwise, it's annoying for you. And for me. Yeah. So, but that one, I just happen to bring it up because it's such a good one. And I bet everybody can relate to that one. But it's in the same chapter. Let's go into this. Because there's two kinds because there's Mary Abbajay 41:40 two kinds. Yeah, there's all seagulls swoop, people all seagulls swoop, you have a sweeper and a pooper and a super, and a scooper. So the swooper and pooper swoops in our project has been hands off, they swoop in, and they poop all over it. Like they just are like, this is awful. This is awful. Damn, why were you guys doing it, I know what you're doing. And they just, you know, Crusher ready. And then they swoop right back out, leaving like doctress of like bad feelings and, you know, crushed hearts and souls. So that's the Super and pooper, then you have the swooper and scooper. And this is the boss that you know, assigns you a project, and then all of a sudden they swoop in and they take the project away for two for their own, they take it away, and they put their name on it. And you've worked hard on it. And suddenly it's away from you, and you are really bummed out. So those are the two different kinds of seagulls. Carley Hauck 42:34 I really appreciate that. So I had this idea that perhaps, you know, we could roleplay this. So let's say that I have a boss that is a super. And I was working really hard on Unknown Speaker 42:45 pooper scooper. Carley Hauck 42:47 As a scooper. Unknown Speaker 42:49 He's super super. Carley Hauck 42:50 Yeah, thank you. So the seagull have a boss us swoops in, and scoops in. And it's a project I've been working really hard on, I'm presenting it to senior stakeholders. And then all of a sudden, they act like it's theirs, they take credit for it. Yeah, as I think about that, I would get triggered. That would be something that I really have to spend a little more time self managing myself my reaction to not take it personally. Yeah, to understand my motive or their motivations. And then therefore to advocate for myself, how would you coach me to manage up in that scenario, especially with senior stakeholders? Mary Abbajay 43:42 Yeah, so there's a couple of things with the you know, with the CIO, there's the scooper, that's gonna steal the credit. And then there's just a scoop of this gonna take over the project. I mean, they're kind of similar, but they're a little bit different. Like, they might actually take over the project and still give you some credit as they finish it. So the first thing I would say to you is, you know, is this a pattern? Like, is this a pattern that this boss does frequently? Or infrequently, they would ask you to kind of look for the patterns, like, as there are certain types of projects that they swoop and scoop on? Are there certain, like what's going on in the culture that makes them like this project suddenly has probably gotten to be high visibility, right? So I asked you about the pattern, so that you can anticipate it. The other thing I'd say is, you know, are you keeping this person in the loop on this, like, Did this person Scoop it because they didn't know how, where it was? Or are they scooping it because they didn't know where it was? And they want to take the credit for it. So then I would want to ask you around like, what, and part of this would also rely on what kind of a boss this person is. Could you have a conversation with this boss about this? Could you go in and say, you know, Hey, boss, I was really disappointed that not gonna be able to work on XYZ project or, you know, I'd really like to get some feedback on my piece of the project. Was my performance not satisfactory, just curious as to, you know what it was? Why, why I'm no longer working out, I tried to avoid saying why you took it away from me. But find a nice way to do that. No, Carley Hauck 45:20 I think leading with curiosity, when you're not in a triggered place is really great. Like, Oh, I wonder why did why did that end up being put on your calendar and not mine anymore? sense it in that way? And Mary Abbajay 45:36 that's something really important when you're not in a triggered state. Carley Hauck 45:40 Yes. Yes, I have a whole framework on triggers, which I'll actually leave in the show notes, because I have to practice it all the time. Yeah. And I think in order to manage up, we have to manage ourselves. Yep. Mary Abbajay 45:54 And then the last thing I'll say about the scooper is, you know, even you know, anticipate this for the next time that they're going to scoop it. But sometimes, if you keep them in the loop, and you see see other people, especially other people that this project is impacting, it's gonna be a lot harder for them to steal the credit if other people know you're working at it. And the last thing I'll say about this is, of course, then you can also when it's all done, you can also go back in and say, I would love to know how that project turned out. How are my pieces, so you can like, get some feedback and like, post thing. And then lastly, and I can't live, we're gonna suggest this, I might deny it. You know, this is what the gossip mill is for. And I don't mean bad mouthing your boss, but make it known, make sure people know, your contribution to this project. You know, like, if you ever run into his boss, and in the elevator or her his or their boss and elevator, and they say what you've been working on, you can say, you know, what, I was really lucky enough to work on that pesky project that my boss handed in, it was really exciting. And I really liked the opportunity to support that project. Don't take all the credit. But you can also do some backdoor self promotion on that. Carley Hauck 47:02 I love that. So holding people accountable by you know, really having all the stakeholders in the same email thread, transparency, and then also just speaking aloud your contribution with other folks and other stakeholders. I think that's, that's really great. Mary Abbajay 47:19 And then finally, you know, if your boss does this a lot and steals credit a lot. Then you may not be he she or they may not be the right boss for you. Because occasionally, you know, because some bosses say, you work for me, your ideas are my ideas. Right. So that's kind of the old school bossiness. You know, the 20 century boss. And if that's not your thing, and I don't blame you, it's not my thing, either, then you, you, maybe you need to find a different boss. Because if you're not getting what you need, as professional as a human being, if you're not being valued, if they don't find you valuable, and your ideas, then there's no shame in quitting like, find something was find a place where people do value you and they do find you valuable, and you get what you need, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually and fulfilling in your career. So you have a scooper and it drives you crazy. Get a new boss, get new jobs. Yeah, those are all really give yourself permission to quit. Uh huh. Carley Hauck 48:19 Yeah. So I've got two last questions for you. Okay. A lot of people are, you know, looking for new roles and new jobs they're interviewing, I am in that boat right now, I'm just going to put myself in the ring interviewing, you know, new potential supervisors for my for my new internal role. What are some things that I can be assessing to figure out? Who is this person, like, what kind of a boss are they going to be? And what's difficult about this, Mary, is that I will have one conversation with this person to be able to say, I'm the right candidate for you. And we may have a half hour, we may have 45 minutes. So ultimately, I'd love to be able to have further conversations, because I'm interviewing them as much as they're interviewing me. And I'm putting myself, you know, in this in the eye position, but I really want this to be in service of everybody that's thinking about this. Mary Abbajay 49:12 Yeah. You know, this is a hard one, I'm much better at telling you what to ask once you get in. But here's what I'm gonna say it for this. First of all, if you're going in person, right, if you're going into a physical office to interview with that person face to face, which I think happens still occasionally, mostly virtual days. But if you do get to go visit, physically, trust your gut, like trust the vibe you feel in the office, because Aska not only tell you a lot, it's gonna tell you a lot about the culture. What do people look like? Are people smiling? Did it look happy? They look stressed. So that sort of thing. So trust and trust, like the vibe you get from someone physically, also trust whatever vibe you can get virtually, although it's a little bit harder. I would ask questions like, you know, tell me about your best employee who's really successful here. What are you doing? Just priorities for your team. So I'd ask things like that. I would say, you know, what drives you crazy about about? I said, what drives you crazy about your employees? Or what are your biggest pet peeves? And you can learn a lot about from people ask about their pet peeves. I would also ask them, What do you like best about being a manager? Hmm, Carley Hauck 50:20 that's a great question. Mary Abbajay 50:22 What do you like best about being a manager? It's hard, because the really the really toxic bosses are just going to be lying. But I would say tell me about your greatest. Tell me. Tell me about if you want to find out about their work life balance, you know, tell me about how you encourage work life balance or? Or how or how do Carley Hauck 50:41 you set boundaries? Yeah. Between work things like Mary Abbajay 50:45 that are really great. Right? What what questions have you been asking? Carley Hauck 50:51 Well, I have been asking great question, some questions when I have an opportunity, because sometimes they don't leave you any room to ask a question. So then I follow up with questions. But I'm always asking them, you know, what is the what is the personality style that's going to be most complimentary with you. And the team is great. And then I also ask, you know, what does success look like in this role in the first three months, in the first six months, in in the first year, because then I know if I'm going to either flop on my face, or if this is going to be a place, I can really bring my best value, and create success, which is what I want, which is what they want, which is Mary Abbajay 51:32 what they want. You know, the other thing you can do, the other thing you can do is you can you can say, Hey, would it be possible for me to talk to another team member? To learn about that? Or do you want to be a little more devious, I don't think is devious. Because you know, you're about to commit, maybe commit to these people. You could literally reach out to somebody Carley Hauck 51:51 done that with other people in the company. What's the culture? Like? Who you Yeah, Mary Abbajay 51:56 what do people say about this boss and things like that? I think that is totally fair game. If you don't know anybody at the company. That's what LinkedIn, that's what LinkedIn is for. cyber stalking. But I think the more I think, you know, I so when I interview for people, people, I actually, I really insist that they talk to my team first. And, and I, my team knows that they, they are really clear about who I am. And they're really honest with with with the people, and then they will come to me and say, Yeah, this person is not for you, or you're gonna love this person. And they're gonna love you. So I really like it when you went hiring bosses, let the team talk to the people too. Carley Hauck 52:39 Well, and then pretty much all the feedback you gave would also the things that you could be assessing in the first 90 days, but also just having more direct conversations with this person, you know, to see, okay, there's going to be certain things that aren't going to work well. But how can I adapt? Right? And and how can how can we have this be a win win for both of us? Mary Abbajay 53:00 That's exactly right. That's exactly right. You because yeah, and hopefully, and by the way, if anyone's looking for work life balance, and you say, you know, what's the culture here, and the boss, the hiring person says to you, oh, we work hard, and we play hard. That's a high work culture. Carley Hauck 53:20 Well, and the other part of your book, which I think is really helpful, too, is that you're able to assess your strengths and your weaknesses, and also what kind of boss you're going to vibe with and best. And so again, this comes back to self awareness, like, you know, own own your, your parts, and then find the right fit for you. Because not everyone is going to be the right fit. Mary Abbajay 53:47 You bless your heart, you are 1%, right, you know, what we tend to do is we all tend to like the way we operate. So when people operate differently than us, then we tend to get really frustrated and make them you know, make us the victim and make them the perpetrator. And the truth is, there are some people like my favorite boss might be your worst nightmare. You know, your favorite boss might be someone else's worst nightmare. And so really be able to own your own piece of the puzzle is really important to be honest with yourself about what what kind of person you are and what kind of person you're going to work well with. And what you might need to do more of less of or differently in order to work well with the boss that you've decided to work for. Carley Hauck 54:25 For sure. And that comes back to the self management, right is owning your reaction to whatever's happening, because because you're the only person that can change that reaction. Mary Abbajay 54:38 Yeah, because we only have control over ourselves. We don't control anybody else. But I do have some questions that you can ask once you start, okay. By the way, if anybody wants these questions, they can just email me because you're gonna put that in the show notes or something reach out to me or find me on LinkedIn. Yes, Carley Hauck 54:53 your LinkedIn will be in the show notes and your website. Mary Abbajay 54:57 And these are really basic questions, but I'm telling you Guys, they work so much. And managers love it. They always know they should be having these with you. But if they don't things simple things like What's your preferred mode of communication? Yeah. How do you like to be approached regarding an issue or challenge or a problem? How often do you like to meet as a team or one on one? Is the question you did before? What does success look like to you defined top performer? How often do you like to be updated? And projects? How do you like your updates? Like I like updates, but I want to be kept in the loop not in the soup. So I have a couple of people on my team that are really detail oriented, and my eyes glaze over. isn't done? That's to my mind. If you had a perfect team member, what would that person look like? What are your top priorities? What the biggest pressure is on you or the team right now? How can I best support you? What do you find annoying about working with others? And then always say, What can I do more of less of a definitely to work well with you? And what else do I need to know about working well with you always say what else and just have this conversation 15 minute conversation, I call it the preferences, priorities and pet peeves. This way, you're going to cover not only their work style, but like what's important to them, what they care about how they like to work, and it's going to be a good conversation. And I will also say this, as Carly and I were saying not everybody's very self aware, take their answers, but also measure them against how that you actually see them behaving. Like what they say, I'm very communicative. I love pop in meetings, and you know that they don't you see the behavior, the doubt. So take what they say, but don't treat it as gospel to actually see that behavior. Carley Hauck 56:44 I love all of those. And being that, you know, I bring a lot of coaching into the work that I'm doing. I've brought in actually a lot of those questions to support leaders, you know, to have conversations with their direct reports and with their supervisors. But then after you get those answers, what I think is even a really good next step is that one, you're writing it down, you repeat back what you heard them, say, so that it's actually correct. And then you create an agreement. So I hear you want me to do this, this and this. And then you say, well, on my side, I'd really love and you request which you need, and then you create an agreement, and you're probably going to make some oops, so then what's your accountability to come back to the agreement that you just had, you know, and this is where psychological safety and trust is built. But this, these types of questions, I think are essential in your one on ones, but also in the team. There's so many teams, senior leadership teams that I get asked to come in, and they haven't done any of them. They don't know how your team wants to work. So how are you even? How are you delivering on projects, y'all? Mary Abbajay 57:56 You know, I love that because I think I think, you know, this is a partnership like employee and leaders partnership. And I love that you are helping the leaders ask these questions downward as I'm helping the employees ask them upwards, because it is a conversation that both should have. And I always say to my folks, you know, hopefully once you ask your boss these questions, they'll turn around and ask you the same questions and listen to them. And it's always makes me sad when someone emails me back and says, You know what, I had this great conversation with my boss, I asked this person all these questions, but they didn't ask me a single one. I was like, wow, that's sad. That's a missed opportunity from that boss, Carley Hauck 58:35 for sure. But this is how we change it. Right? This is this is when everyone's talking about human centered people first. Yeah, you start with connection, Unknown Speaker 58:44 you start with the people. Carley Hauck 58:48 How to Care for this person? Who is this person? How are we going to collaborate? Well, Mary, this was amazing. Thank you. Again, I just love this conversation. And again, everyone, this book is fabulous. And I love all those questions. So you so is there anything else you want to leave folks with? Mary Abbajay 59:07 I just want to say you know your work, you spend so many of your waking hours at work. I truly believe those should be great hours, there should be hours where you can use your mind, your heart, your creativity, your passion, they should be hours that that you that you find valuable and that add to your life, not detract your life. So if you have a bad boss, or you're in a bad workplace experience, do what you can to get a better workplace experience. You deserve it. You deserve it. You only live once and your work should be a bonus to that and nine detractor for your life. So good luck. Thank you, Carly. This was so awesome and get Carly's book people and leader stop being jerks out there. I have I have a presentation that call that's called your team hates you and here's why. Carley Hauck 59:54 Oh wow. Mary Abbajay 59:57 Your direct boss is not being jerks and start Reading current Carly's book. Carley Hauck 1:00:03 Yeah. Be the the leader that others will never want to leave and want to follow. Right? That's right. That's the opportunity right now. Thank you, Mary. Thanks, Carly. Let me summarize some of the key points of the interview before we go and give you some action steps you can put into place today. First, manage yourself. Before we can manage up down or laterally, we have to be able to know what is happening inside our bodies, when to speak and when to be quiet. We want to be the calm in the midst of the storm. And there is emotional contagion, whether you're working from zoom, or you're actually in person, people can feel and sense where you might be in your body. And so navigating your triggers, you'll find a free meditation in the show notes that you can utilize. There's also lots of wonderful practices in my book, on how to be a conscious leader. And there is a very effective framework on navigating triggers. In fact, this topic is one of the most highly sought out team building sessions that I offer with senior leaders. And additionally, the nine leadership capabilities that Mary and I spoke about before, which is this validated framework that I've developed in the last decade. self management is key to that competency. There is also a team building workshop that I am doing in partnership with Team Rothery. And this is also in the show notes. And it's called from trigger to triumph. So if you're interested in that, you can book that with your team. I do that with a lot of teams. Second, manage down, up and laterally. With Remote distributed workforce, we need to begin to have conversations that invite people to share what their preferences for communication are, when they might actually work best during the day, which could be really different. It might be that they take a longer break at lunch, because they want to go exercise and they were up really early hour they've got child care. Find out with your team and your supervisor, how people work best, what is going to actually help them collaborate, communicate with you the best. Third, invest in learning and leadership development for everyone at the company. This is one of the best ways that you can create a whole healthy organizational culture. And we know that culture eats strategy for breakfast. In the conscious leadership programs that I have designed and developed for some really amazing companies, I have validated metrics to showcase that empathy goes up 74%. That's one of the most sought after leadership competencies in our workplace right now. Psych psychological safety goes up by 47% internal mobility engagement goes up by 20 to 30%. And I have many more incredible results that I could share with you. If you're interested in having me partner with you. For an internal director above learning leadership and culture role I am interviewing now for the right boss, team and company to join. I am so excited about this opportunity to serve a thriving organizational culture, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Number four, if you are in a truly toxic environment with a harmful and unconscious boss, definitely check out Mary's book, there's a lot of really wonderful ways to manage up, and also resources. I also recorded a podcast on this topic a few years ago. And if you go to the shownotes, you'll see it's how to coach a harmful and unconscious leader. There are tips and strategies and as Mary and I spoke about can't change the person. So you do need to leave but before you leave, find your allies. And if it feels safe to do so speak up so that this behavior and this person can be held accountable and so that the hurt and harm doesn't continue. And also so that this person gets help and they get actually taken out of their people leader role. This person is not equipped to lead people. They would be better served to just navigate with technology, or potentially take some time off to do some deep for healing. And the last thing I'd like to preface is that we all are navigating individual, collective and intergenerational trauma. And it's really important as we come together and really create what can be a healing organization that we are trauma informed, and especially in the people function of HR talent, and the chief people officer, we need to know what the signs of trauma are, and also where to give people resources and help. Please reach out to me to have a conversation on this. There's a lot of resources that I have on this topic and other really great people to connect to you to. Again, Mary is amazing. Mary, thank you so much for your service and your leadership. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family, or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. If you have any questions, comments or topics you would like me to address on the podcast, please email me at support at Carley hauck.com And finally, thank you for tuning in and being part of this community. We have several wonderful future shine podcast episodes, so make sure you don't miss any and until we meet again, be the light and shine your light

70. How to Nurture the Human Renaissance with Enrique Rubio & Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2023 58:41

In this podcast interview with my friend and colleague Enrique Rubio, founder of Hacking HR, we speak about the renaissance and rebirth of HR. I am renaming the time we are in as the Human Renaissance. In this interview we speak about how to build a people first culture where people and business are intertwined and how to optimize for both by investing in self care and well being. We talk about the important role of conscious leadership skills and which ones are needed to build the foundation of the awakened company and world. Lastly, we speak to the role of HR in addressing burnout and some possible solutions to implement for a thriving organizational culture. Episode Links: Hacking HR October Summit Registration Link Enrique Rubio LinkedIn Shine Podcast Interview- "What are the most needed leadership skills to create a healthy organizational culture in 2024?" SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social: LinkedIn IG Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Shine Podcast Page IMPERFECT SHOW NOTES Carley Hauck 0:10 Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am host of the shine podcast. This podcast has been flickering strong since May 2019. I began the podcast due to all the research I was conducting. In interviews with organizational leaders, lead scientists, academic researchers and spiritual teachers for my new book shine, ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. I wrote my book to inspire a new paradigm of conscious leadership and business that was in service of a higher purpose to help humans flourish, and regenerate our planet. The podcast focuses on the science and application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about the theme of our season, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on shine or go to your favorite podcast platform carrier. That way you don't miss one episode. Thank you. This season is going to be focused on what leadership skills are most needed to create a healthy organizational culture. Leadership and manager effectiveness has been deemed the number one priority for HR and 23. And every person listening whether you have a formal leadership title or not, you are a leader. We all have the responsibility to lead around something that we care about whether it's at home with our family, and our communities, and or in the workplace. I believe in you. And I am so delighted to share with you such an incredible group of people and interviews that I have gathered for this season. I handpick every single guest based on their embodiment of conscious, inclusive leadership and the positive impact they're making. I am delighted you're here. And onto the podcast. Hello, Shine listeners. I am so excited to introduce the first interview of season six. And are you gay Rubio? Enrique, thank you so much for being here. Enrique Rubio 2:57 Carley, thank you so much for inviting me and being your first guest on your new system. I am super excited about the conversation we are about to have Carley Hauck 3:09 need here. And I'm gonna give a little light to our friend Sue Olson, who likely will listen to this Sue, thank you so much for encouraging this connection. It has already been meaningful and fruitful. And I'm sure it will continue to bear gifts. Unknown Speaker 3:28 I agree with you. Hello, so. Carley Hauck 3:33 So Enrique, please tell me and our listeners, why you love HR. What is it about HR? And for folks that may not know what HR stands for? It means human resources, which is like, why did we give it that name? Humans are not resources? No, I'll let you go forward with that. Enrique Rubio 3:56 Yeah, well, it's a story of to me of believing that as a function as a business function. We have impact both on business people and society in general. And this is the way I think about it. Right. And I thought about this question when you sent it to me before in preparation for the conversation today. And think about it in these terms. For most organizations, for every HR person there is there are about 250 to maybe 500 or six 600 employees. So that means that if the relation was direct, every person who works in HR is impacting the lives of anywhere between 250 and 600. People imagine the kind of power that you hold to both either or to either positively or negatively impact the lives of these folks, right. So if you do great work in HR, and I am hoping that you do it will be the right conditions for people to feel that they can find an outlet for their talents, their creativity, their passion, their voice, their purpose at work, where they find joy and happiness, where they come to work excited about the change they are making in the world and not just making some stakeholders or shareholders richer than they were before. But if you are building that kind of organization, as an HR person, then you are making anywhere between 250 and 600 people happier than they would be otherwise. So the reason why I love HR is sort of twofold, right? One one current state and one future state current status. I think we care a lot about the work that we do. We care a lot about the people that we're working with our organizations, our leaders, and we're not perfect. So there may be listeners saying yes, but my experience with HR was not positive. And that's true. And that may be true. My experience with some salespeople wasn't positive, my experience with some customer, people were mostly positive, my experience with some, I don't know, residential management people wasn't positive, right. But that doesn't mean that the function as a whole and that everybody in that function, wouldn't want to create a positive kind of environment for you. So reason number one is that we do care. And we have such a powerful opportunity to create good impact and change the world from HR today. And the second reason is more aspirational, right? We are the only function that sits at the intersection of People Operations and Business Operations. When you look at all the other functions, most of them are purely business, even when they work it out from like marketing or sales or it or legal, whatever it is. They are mostly business operations, we are at the intersection of business and people operations. And I fully believe that the magic of building great workplaces making people's lives better of creating better societies, and a better world accordingly, as happens at that intersection. That's what that magic happens. And we are the only ones from a from a business standpoint, sitting in that intersection of business and people. So aspirationally I love HR, because we can make such a such an incredible impact and leave such an incredible legacy by working it out very well, while we sort of deliver what we need to deliver at this intersection of people and business operations. So I love HR because we we care for all people and organizations and business matter, and aspirationally because we can truly make an impact and change the world from our small area of influence and impact in the organizations where we work. So that's that's the way I see it. Carley Hauck 7:44 I love that. Thank you so much for your passion. Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree, the microcosm of work is where you have such an interesting mix of people that come together, work together, collaborate, that might never ever meet otherwise, from all over the world, especially in this remote, cross functional, hybrid kind of way that we're working and sometimes completely remote. And I believe that if we can use business as the lever to create healing, and this is the microcosm, we get to kind of really create, you know, different conditions that can translate to the greater world. And so you you said impact, but what you need is a positive impact, how can business really be best for the world, that's what I heard in your tone and in your voice. And I think it is the responsibility and the opportunity of business. And you're right, HR is kind of the belly, the heart that allows business to move in that direction. So we spent, Enrique Rubio 8:52 we spent we spend anywhere between a third and 40% of our lifetimes at work doing something that has to do with work, whether it is for ourselves or in a company with other people or alone, that's a significant amount of time considering that probably the one of the other thirds is sleeping, right. So so when you think about spending a third of your life at work, the impact that whatever happens at work has on you is extraordinary, is exceptional. So when you know you can you can go into directions, work can break you, or what work can lift you up, but we should understand that that 30% of our lifetimes is spent at work will definitely and does make a difference on people whether whether on the positive or on the negative side. So we have to choose from not only from an HR standpoint, but as a US business. We have to choose to one these folks that we are employing right now to have a better life not just with what we're paying them, but in general beyond just the financial transaction of us. paying them for the work that they're given give back, Carley Hauck 10:02 because it impacts how they're showing up at home is what you're saying society and society for sure. And, you know, I know you're familiar with this research, but the two people that have the biggest influence on your mental and emotional well being is your boss at work, and your partner at home. Yeah, those are the two that you have the most interaction with throughout the day. And so I know that we're gonna get into leadership and manager effectiveness, because it is the number one priority for HR and 23. But I see it being the number one priority for many years to come, because we haven't cracked that code. But before we go into that, tell me about hacking HR, this incredible community that you have developed. Tell me how that got started? And what's the current phase of it? And where do you Where are you holding the vision for it? Enrique Rubio 11:00 Yeah, well, thank you for that question. And yes, I am the founder of a global learning community for HR people called Hacking HR. And what we do is we bring together 1000s of people around the world to be part of our learning programs to build community to connect with each other. And we do it the two pillars, the two foundations of what we do, our number one community, bringing people together and helping them make connections with each other, building meaningful relationships. And you can tell, you know, the person who connected us is somebody that he connected with from somebody else. So now we are for, you know, in this, in this world connected and enjoying are enjoying each other. And this wouldn't have been possible without hacking autonomy, maybe it could have been possible, but maybe it would have been more difficult. So it's community and it's learning and the learning, the way we do learning is by bringing practitioners of the business and the people of space to come together and share their insights, their ideas, their experiences, their whatever their stories, with all of us in the community, we are, we're very heavy on bringing practitioners to the to our learning events or learning experiences. Because well, you know, there's a lot of writing material about everything. But then you go on write and read something. And you always are left with a question. Yes, but how? Right? Well, you know, how do I do this, and we bring practitioners to share more of the how maybe their own how, but a how that can resonate with an extended community. So we've done hundreds of events for 1000s of people on LinkedIn, which is our main, sort of like social media outlet, we are one of the largest HR communities in the world. And the number one in engagement rates, that of all the HR communities that exist, we are the number one engagement rates, not by good luck, because we've been so for the past couple of years. So I think we're doing something right. And that is the way to listen, thank you, we share good content. And also, we have we have our voice, you know, we, you know, we're very respectful, and we're very kind, but we have our voice. You know, we you know, one example of this, right? I mean, I am I am I an absolute advocate of autonomy and flexibility at work, that doesn't mean that I believe that everybody should be working from home or everybody should be working from an office, I do believe that if we, if you are employing adults, we'll treat them like adults. And we share this voice unapologetically. Meaning, you know, some people don't like that we are promoting this idea of a, you know, I mean, if you don't like it, there are other communities that will probably say what you want to hear. We are more on the side of like, you know, let's expand possibilities. You know, let's think outside of the box, right, let's, let's think beyond evidence right in front of us. So that's what we're doing. Yeah, Carley Hauck 13:54 I was also gonna say it's also a very diverse community. I mean, I heard you say, there are people all over the world, but even just the panels that you have, I know you have an upcoming summit in October that we're going to talk about. The panels are very diverse, the people that are showing up and I also really love that part about the community too. Enrique Rubio 14:14 Yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah, we I have made a point of honor of our work to make sure that we're building that we're bringing diverse voices to to our conversations. And diversity looks in many different ways. By the way, not only it's not only gender sexual identity is not only skin color, your credo if you believe in anything is your nationality is your background is I mean, there are people who have participated in our events, that they have a very controversial point of view about say, you know, remote work, for example, they're like, No, I think everybody has to come to the office, and they express with respect and everybody else respects them. They spread as expressed their their points of view, and we all end up either agreeing or disagreeing. In by understanding something that we may not have known be known before. So the diversity, the way we embrace inclusivity and diversity as, let's make sure that we bring as many diverse voices to the table that they are heard with respect and kindness. And that simultaneously, they hear us and see and respect other voices as well. And I care less about us agreeing on what we're talking about, than about respect, and kindness and compassion toward each other. Unfortunately, there has never been an instance in our community, Never, not even once, in the six years that I've been doing this, that anybody has said, um, you know, jumping out of this, you know, some whatever, because I don't feel respected. You know, it'd be more along the lines of like, a, you know, I don't agree with you for this. And, and I promote that, you know, I promote that safe space for people to say, I don't agree with that, for this, and this and that, and that's totally fine. So yeah, we have Carley Hauck 15:59 to disagree, right, you need to be respecting Enrique Rubio 16:01 each other unkind. I mean, talk about the state of our world. I mean, it's so messed up. I mean, it's so messed up. Because weak is like, we can hear any, anything that we're saying, if we, the moment you say something that I don't agree with, immediately, I am blocked, I am there with you, I'm looking at you, you're saying I see your mouth moving, but I am not listening anymore. Because you said something that I disagree with. And I wonder why, you know, I mean, we're never going to solve problems that way, let alone get together to, you know, have a positive impact on each other. So anyway, diversity for all as, you know, in every sense of the word beyond, you know, what can be considered traditionally, diversity, like, you know, the, the color of your skin, where you come from, and, you know, your gender and whatnot, it is also, you know, the kinds of things that you are sharing with us in the community. Carley Hauck 16:52 So I'm, I mean, I know, we have a bunch of questions, and I'm gonna keep us on time. But I have to pivot here, because I feel I feel really intrigued about how you've created this. So psychological safety is something that I've been studying and I is one of the very first things that I do when I am assessing a team or a company. And I believe that it is the foundation that really needs to be prioritized first, but it's not easy to do. So I feel curious, how have you been able to cultivate this and have six years of this safe space? Because that's, that's pretty magical. We can say that that's happening on Twitter or Facebook. So yeah, tell me more. Enrique Rubio 17:40 I think it was like about three years ago, we set something on LinkedIn. And some people said, This is no right for you to say, and I can remember what it was. I don't even think it was something that we said, I think we shared something by a person that we didn't know that well, as somebody was like that person. You know, it's not talking, you know, really well about women in the workplace, you know, sounds a little bit misogynistic. And this is what I did, I left the thing posted. And I said, we disagree with this. And I'm gonna leave it posted, because I want everybody to get their own impression, but I don't agree with this. And I apologize, because we made a mistake, by giving this person a voice. I'm not going to take it down right now. Because there's already a conversation going on about this, which is, which is that healthy conversation to have, by the way, when you when you miss, will you mess up? But to me, the point is that it's happened to us in six years, it's only happened to us maybe like two or three times that I've made a mistake like that. And what I do say on it, you know, I just say I'm sorry, you know, I messed up. And, and I am sorry, I'm learning. You know, there was something like like, let me give you another example, right? You talked about diversity in our panels. It was it was not always that way, about four years ago, the only kind of diversity that I was very cared about. And it's not that I just care about that. But the only the only kind of diversity that I care about when it came to the panels that I was putting together was gender diversity. So I always wanted to make sure that there were at least an equal number of female speakers than male speakers. But then everything looked white, everything looked the same. And people were like, there's nobody, you know, with a different skin color in there. And Rick, you are a Latino man. And there are no Latino, Latin X people in those panels that are no women of color. There are no people with at least a disability that they can publicly say that they have the disability. And I will say dang it. I never thought about that. And you what he said was, you are totally right about this. I thought I was doing the right thing. But obviously I'm falling short of the very things that I'm talking about. I am sorry, I messed up once again, let's move on and this will learn and now we're moving on. So I'm gonna you know is this happened like two or three times in our in our Carley Hauck 19:58 terminal past Just for a moment, because I just want to acknowledge your humility. And we're going to organize, you know, go into the recipe for what a conscious inclusive leader looks like. But one of the things that, you know, conscious leaders do is is they, they have the awareness to take responsibility for what's mine, for where I made a mistake, apologizing is fabulous. And then of course, correcting learning and growing. So bravo and reggae. Well, Enrique Rubio 20:28 you know, one thing that I gotta say, is this, right? being self aware, which is a couple of things, it is recognizing, when you've fallen short of your own promises, and the premises that you believe in, when you blatantly, you know, unintentionally make a mistake, or inadvertently make a mistake that hurts people, and then apologizing for that, that, to me is all part of this concept of self awareness. That doesn't mean that inside you, you have a little bit of pride, saying, I still have, you know, like, I still think that this was the right thing to do. But okay, I get it, right. And the way I have tried to operate in this community is just by acknowledging when I make a mistake, when we do something wrong, acknowledge that acknowledge that I may have caused pain in somebody for doing something in the wrong way. And moving on by having learned, you know, not to do the same thing again, but do it better. But, you know, I have to also acknowledge my own my own inner self, right, that that I sometimes I want to be right. And, and I recognize that I am wrong, but I still want to be right. So it's walls that you have inside yourself, right? It's, you know, which one are you feeding, but the reality is that even if you're feeding this kind war, that is that is the wolf that is telling you, you made a mistake, just apologize and move on. crumbles are falling out to the other wall saying, Yeah, but I still want to be right about this, even if I am not. So this, this matters, because sometimes we try so many leaders, and we're gonna talk about conscious leadership, right? But so many leaders try to project an image of something they are not, they try to sweep their mistakes under the short comments under the rug, instead of just saying, I messed up, I am sorry, you know, I made I made a mistake, I did something wrong, I hurt people. And this is how I am planning to move on to never let this thing happen again, and to make sure that we course correct in a different direction. But nothing, we nothing that we do. Nothing ever will take us back to the way things were before. I cannot you know, I'm not like Superman flying in the opposite direction of the rotation of the Earth, trying to, you know, go back in time, right. And I'm saying this because they watched I rewatched the movie recently. You know, like, superhero, Superman, number one, you know, with Christopher Reeve, you know, I love I love him back. But yeah, you can go back in time, all you got to do is be Yeah, show up. Yeah, recognize and own your stuff on your mistakes, say, apologize and say how you're going to be moving on from that. I love that. That's part of how we build safety in hacking HR. Carley Hauck 23:12 I was going to come back to that, but you just summarized it. Yes, that's how you created safety is that you have strong leadership, that is modeling what you want the rest of the community to showcase. And I some other piece that I wanted to bring up. And then I'd love to move into conscious leadership a little more deeply. But I know you and I are going to be speaking to the idea of this collective intelligence, and how leaders are really about leading together, you know, you're a founder, I'm a founder. But ultimately, that's a lot of responsibility. Right? And you couldn't have this community without other leaders without other people, you know, showing up in supporting you to maybe see your blind spots to help make decisions. And I really think it's again, about acknowledging I don't have all the answers. Here I am, I am human, which means I'm messy, and I'm gonna make mistakes. And I need support, you know, otherwise, I will burn out because even though you're part Superman, with all your ultra marathon running, you're not fully Superman, and I'm not Superwoman. So on that, on that thread, I open it up to any reactions, but then I'd love to move us into some conscious leadership. Enrique Rubio 24:33 Yeah, well, you know, actually, my only reaction is this. If you if you or any of your listeners go now to any of the things that we're doing hacking HR, if you didn't know that I was the founder. You wouldn't know that I was involved in this thing at all, because what I built was a platform to give other people a voice in front of our community. Yes, I put I've put a lot of energy time, effort money into building this, but we're rarely do you see me speaking in any of our own events moderating any of our events? Rarely do you see my name in anything that we do? It is it is the community, you know, even when I post something that I create myself, and and I post it on on our LinkedIn channel, I use, you know, how can HR because I want to make sure that is the brand, that is the community that is engaging in these kinds of conversations and interactions are not necessarily with me. And I love that, you know, because I think I build something that gives people the opportunity to connect with each other and expand and share and amplify their voice. And to me, that's, that's, that's, you know, ultimately, you know, part of what, what I what I wanted to do by design, you know, give other people the voice because I don't have not only do I, I don't have all the answers, I have more questions than I have answers about anything. So, so yeah, you know, that I just wanted to say that because, you know, it, I see other groups, especially in the space of HR, where it's, it feels like a cold, you know, to personality, you know, like a goal to their founder or their leader. And they gotta, you know, like, no, that's not what I want to do, you know, I mean, a different game, you know, here, I mean, a different kind of thing here. Carley Hauck 26:16 Well, then that gives it more life, because then you don't have to hold it. All right, yeah, you can, it can continue to create this, you know, this life of its own. So lovely. Well, I'd love to talk a little bit about leadership and conscious leadership, because that's what I have studied a lot in the last 10 years. It's what I wrote my book on. And I wanted to bring into this this framework that I have studied and validated. Because this framework is something that you write a lot about, ironically, before we met, I was reading, you know, hacking, HR, and just so many of the things that you speak about compassion and self awareness, and resilience and well being, I thought, I think Enrique is my brother from another mother hair. So let's, let's talk about that a little more openly. So I've distilled nine different leadership traits, that when people are cultivating these on a continuum, it actually showcases in how will they show up as a leader, how they are able to lead the business lead teams, and it actually creates more psychological safety, more trust, more empathy, more teamwork. I've, you know, really dialed in these assessments. So I know that this framework works, but I'll just read through them briefly. And then I'd love to hear which one or two do you feel like you've really honed and which ones are areas for growth for you right now. And, you know, I imagine it's, it's kind of had ranges, and you might be stronger in these right now. But maybe we're stronger in them for today, for example. So self awareness, self management, empathy, resilience, humility, we already know you've got a lot of humility, self belonging, which is including the dimensions of self love, self compassion, self forgiveness, self acceptance, physical well being and psychological well being, I really see them as being distinct, but they're interconnected. What do you think, Enrique, where are you strongest? And where do you have places for growth? And those nine, Enrique Rubio 28:40 I think, my, I think I am, you know, in a very good place, when it comes to physical Well, being a psychological well being, I think I take very good care of my body, I am a, I am a competitive runner. And I do invest a lot in in the steam feed, and I'm strong and healthy. So I try to make sure that my mind is fed with good stuff, you know, and, yeah, you know, I read the news, and I, you know, I get upset and take attendance. And I, you know, I get upset on my partner and, you know, we fight and you know, we do and my cats and we get upset at each other, but I try to, you know, make sure that I keep, you know, a good level of, of psychological well being and physical well being of course, so that's one. Resilience, I think would be probably the other one. Carley Hauck 29:39 Can I go into that a little deeper because I love to infuse this podcast with tips. We all learn from one another. So I hear you're a competitive runner. So that's one way you're really nourishing your physical body and you run in the hills in Flagstaff, which is where I went to grad school. So I think we would have met At some point, because I would have gone back there. But how else are you taking care of this of this temple? And then I'd love to hear more about how you're nurturing the mind. You're I hear you're feeding the Good Wolf. Not the bad wolf. But But how else? Enrique Rubio 30:18 Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, on the physical side is both nutrition and fitness. So I am actually a vegan. So I'm a plant based. Oh, nice. Yeah, well, I've been I've been a vegan for 15 years. And, you know, I respect what people end up eating and what they do. But I think that we need to take a very hard look at what we are putting into our bodies, right? I mean, you will not if you need an oil change for your car, you are not going to donate, you know, crap, right, you want to make sure there is good oil that gets your car, going for the long run. And we're putting crap in our bodies. So you know, sugar, alcohol, smoke, tobacco, you know, things of the kind that we know, destroy our temple, like you said before, so it is, to me it is fitness and nutrition, for the physical side of things and psychological well being, you know, it's just being aware, you know, I'm being being aware of, of the kind of things that I'm thinking about. I do have negative thoughts, I think like everybody else, and I try to remove them as soon as possible from my mind, so that they don't, you know, either way, you know, the good stuff that I think I, I have to give. So that's, that's, that's one that and I think it's more, you know, it's for people, it's an exercise of looking inward and saying, you know, am I, you know, how am I taking care of my body and my mind, right, it's this, this ultimately, the question you should be asking yourself. And then the second, the second, sort of, kind of, like quality, that I think I have, you know, perhaps hone down as best as I can is resilience, you know, it is being a founder, like you said before, and, you know, being in this work, you know, it doesn't come it's not easy, you know, and I chose a space, by the way that is very hard, you know, as HR is not easy. HR is, is tough, because we've done things in the same way for a very long time. People don't believe in HR. And, you know, there's a lot of work to do. And sometimes, you know, even though I've been doing hacking HR for six years, it's not that every that all the time I'm, I'm on a, you know, like, like an all time high inspiration, energy level, right? Sometimes I'm like, to hell with this man. I'm just, I'm just quitting this and then doing something else. And then the next day is like, calm down. Yeah, you know, yesterday wasn't a good day. But today, it's gonna be a good day, you know, I'm always, you know, like, something happens that I'm like, alright, you know, I mean, this, this came up out of the blue, and it made my day, right, like, you know, sometimes I'm upset about something. And I don't know why the universe, you know, has a person sending me an email saying, like, and Rica, thank you so much, because this event was the best event that I've ever done in my life, but whatever. And I'm like, alright, well, maybe I'm upset about yesterday, whatever it was, but this person made up made my day today with this one common, right. And I think that's how I've built resilience, right? It's knowing that not every day will look the same, some days will be great, some other days will be really bad. And for the most part, you're going to be moving up and down. And as long as you believe in your long term vision about in my case, building up large community and bringing people together, as long as you believe in that, you know, that the doubt of today, you know, will turn into an app tomorrow. And that's the way it's gonna go. Carley Hauck 33:48 Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that. So physical Well, being psychological well, being, resilience, having that growth mindset, and one of the questions that I like to ask for myself when things you know, don't go in the way that I would like, I always say, Well, how is this for me? How is this for me right now? Which in another way is how do I learn from this? Yeah, I see this expression on your face. What does that mean? Enrique Rubio 34:18 You know, I think all of us, you know, have gone through through some stuff in life. And, you know, let me give you one example of this. Right. I, in one of my last corporate jobs, I had a boss who was you know, there are bosses that are bad, but they are not evil. They are just bad bosses. Right? I mean, they are they don't know, Carley Hauck 34:40 they're messy people leading this horrible leading from their own hurt. Yeah, but Enrique Rubio 34:45 but there are there are people that truly go out of their way to harm all their evil, and we can deny that there are evil people in the world, even when you see things, you know, with a more kind of like positive, you know, standpoint. plans and I had a Yeah. And I had a boss that was evil, you know, he, you know, he would go out of his way to harm people around him. And when he quit that job, took me some time to detox from from that environment, because it was a very toxic environment, but it took me some time. But then he left. And I am left with this right now, I know that I know some of the qualities that I would love to see in great leaders. And it's like, it's like, you know, it's like a blank canvas that you're painting. And for now, all I have painted is like, maybe one tree over here, the sun over there, you know, maybe a couple of people over here. So it's, there's a lot of things that have to paint on the what great leadership looks like, right, I have, I still have to add a lot of touches to it. But I already completed the paint of what I think of leadership looks like. And I completed the paint, because I went through that. And whenever I think of him, I think of that very dark Canvas, you know, with with a lot of, you know, negativity going in there. And what I tell people is like, you can have all these qualities to be a great leader. But these are the ones that I know for sure would make you a crappy leader. And that's what he learned from that experience. So the way you know, I just tried as much as they can to make sure that every experience for me turns even even if not at the moment, whenever it happens, that it turns into something where that that can help me grow, you know, that can, even if it doesn't help me grow, that becomes a story. You know, that becomes an experience that I can share with others going forward. So no, this is not always possible. And especially it's almost impossible in the moment in the heat of the moment. But you get there talking about my cats, by the way that I talked about before. You don't know about this, but I rest I think I mentioned to you in our preparation call, I rescued four kittens that were left behind my house by their mom, I don't know what happened. I've never been a pet person. I've never been a cat person. And these four kittens stole my heart. I don't know how I'm gonna do when they grow. But I'm not here. For anybody listening. I'm just showing two Akerley, one of them on the screen. One is Laurie. And they are about six weeks old and they are the most loving beings ever. So I just showed him on the screen because all of them can now climb up on my chair when I'm working and they just lay down on my lap. So anyway, just wanted to show Laurie Do you share Laurie Look at her. She's incredibly beautiful. She looks like like a tiger with blue eyes. So stop. What are you sure on the on the promo for this podcast? Carley Hauck 37:44 Have a picture of Enrique and Lori. Did I say her name? Right. Enrique Rubio 37:48 Laurie? Yeah. Laurie as my girlfriend's name. Yeah. So okay, I named her after Laurie. Carley Hauck 37:54 Cute, cute. Well, thank you, I can completely relate to your story around, you know, having this I like to call them unconscious, right, because we have parts of ourselves that are conscious in their unconscious. But if we're leading from the unconscious parts that are hurting, and it sounds like in this particular case, this person was probably conscious of some of the ways that they were going out of their way to hurt. But there's always ways that were being interpreted, that we don't realize and I studied a lot of unconscious leaders to be able to distill what is a conscious leader personally and professionally. And that could be a whole, a whole other conversation. But I really appreciated what you were sharing and just to kind of jump in with you. I also really focus on my psychological and physical well being and without it. I just see well being as the foundation I'm also a vegan. I've not been a vegan as long as you have but in my book, because I'm so passionate about this being something that we all need to be really practicing eating less meat or being completely vegan. I amplify three different leaders and companies that are vegan based companies. Just ag Josh Tetrick is is one of the leaders I highlight in my book shine and then rebel. When Cheryl Laughlin was the CEO and rebel is a complete pally plant based superfood. I think they're using almost all recyclable plastic bottles now as well. They were definitely on that on that pivot when I interviewed her like five years ago for the book. And then the other one is, is David Young, who has Omni foods, which is actually based out of Hong Kong. So wanted to get a diverse landscape but all of those companies have gone like rocket, the style, startup pace and it's just really incredible to see The impact that they're making in the world because they were they were very small when I chose them to be leaders in the book. And also, just to give a little sneak peek, Dan Buettner, who was a friend and colleague who came out recently with a Netflix series on Blu. So he's actually going to be on the podcast, and he's fantastic. So Dan, Dan is going to be sharing more about the research and I love this research. And it's just, I hope it really ignites and amplifies people to, to take care of their health, because if we're eating more in attunement with nature, and what's gonna support all beings to thrive, then the planet's gonna get healthier. And for that we get to steward her better. Enrique Rubio 40:49 Yeah, it's interesting that we're going back to the basics in so many different ways. Right, the, you know, the basics of leadership, the basics of being a good human being the basics of, you know, how we eat, and our relationship to the, to the planet is, which is funny, because sometimes are not enough for me actually, it's ironic, that sometimes I see some people coming up with like, you know, we got to do things in this way. And I'm like, Yeah, you know, like Native Americans, for example, have known that for 10,000 years, you know, ancient civilizations of, you know, the, you know, this Saharan, northern part, or the, or the Asian continent have known this for 1000s of years, right. So we're not, we're just like rebranding things that we've known for a long time. And, you know, I mean, hopefully, that works. But we just have to acknowledge that some of these ideas of reconnecting to nature to food, even the blue zones that Dan talks about, you know, this is ancient knowledge, you know, I mean, it's been live for so long, not because they read, you know, you know, health magazine, you know, printed in New York, is because they've done this for a long time, and they know how it works. Carley Hauck 42:04 It's like we fell asleep, right? We were we were feeding the bad wolf. We were well, we weren't listening to our wisdom we were, we were getting focused on all the marketing, all the advertising that's telling us to go outside of ourselves to find happiness by buying this by buying that, which is, which is not true. So, gosh, we could we could talk about lots of things. But let me let me move us back to I would really love to talk more about the expectations for leadership. Because as we're hacking HR, and as we as a function, human resources, how do we change that word, but we'll get into that later. Human Renaissance? Let's do that. So when we think about are we setting leaders up? I think about this a lot, because I really want to solve for the leadership gap. And are we actually setting leaders up to succeed? Are expectations too high of them? And do they actually have the skill sets to be conscious? Because, you know, if, if we're stressed, we all are stressed? We all sometimes feel overextended, overwhelmed, it's really hard to lead from that wise place, conscious place. If we don't actually have time to rest and recover if if we don't have these compassionate, safe spaces, to be vulnerable to say, oops, made a mistake here. What do you think about that? Enrique Rubio 43:45 We have built a self reinforcing cycle of bullshit. And I'm sorry for using that word. Carley Hauck 43:54 By the way, tend to post you can even use the F word here. It's all good. Enrique Rubio 43:58 Really. All right. Well, thank you. Because I use a lot of words like that. I like it. You know, I don't know why I feel like you know, they give you give it a little bit of a flavor to the conversation. But I think we've we've created a cycle, a self reinforcing cycle of bullshit, where leaders demand more from people that is unsustainable and unhealthy. People demand more from leaders, which is unsustainable and unhealthy. The shareholders do the same thing. Wall Street is doing the same thing. And and then nobody or just a handful of people not but mostly nobody, at least at a high high level, is saying, Stop a stop for one day. Stop this madness. And let's find out where the cycle is reinforcing itself with with all this bullshit. This happened during the pandemic, the pandemic was an opportunity for us to reset. The pandemic basically told us that we are not in control of most things that we thought we were in control off And it pretty much said to us, you have to stop, stop the cycle. And yes, it didn't have anything to do with, you know, also stopping the cycle at all, it was something completely different. But it gave us an opportunity to reset. What did we do with that awful opportunity, but ended up being an opportunity, what do we do with it? We operate it in a very different way from 2020 to 2020, like the end of 2021, couple of years being more human, more kinder, more compassionate, more understanding, more loving, towards each other Carley Hauck 45:31 planes as much as much writing Yeah, what Enrique Rubio 45:35 happening, what happened in 2022, we went back to normal, we are supposed to enter into a recession, let's lay off all these people, let's force them back into the office, they are not beat. So it's all the same jargon, the same self reinforcing cycle that we had, before the pandemic, that the pandemic gave us an opportunity to reset. So the truth is, I don't even know what the take for us to say, we have to stop this madness, the exploit exploitation of people, the exploitation of the planet, the exploitation of animals, we have to stop this madness is just that is so hard, you know, like you don't know where to begin this. I see the newer generations, the younger generations been way more socially engaged, and more socially conscious about what they do to their own bodies, what they do to the planet, and what they do to each other. And I am hoping that we can use that as leverage to reset. Carley Hauck 46:34 Thank you for sharing all of that. I wholeheartedly agree. And I, one of my mentors who wrote the foreword for my book, Lynne twist, who's a big steward of planet, she, when I first heard her talk, she would say we have to hospice out these old systems and structures that don't work. So I feel like we're still in this space that things are crumbling, we're creating the new foundation. But like you said, these this younger generation, you know, the the Gen z's, the millennials, they are in the the biggest, or they are the biggest work force that we have. And the more that they're either building companies, starting companies, or they're just speaking out about what they don't want. Yeah, that makes the Foundation have to be rebuilt. Enrique Rubio 47:28 Yeah. Well, you know, there's scientific philosopher, his name is Thomas Kuhn, an American philosopher in the 1960s, he wrote a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. And yes, you know, lots of claims in the book and lots of backlash about different things about how scientific revolutions and the change from one way of doing things to another actually happen. But this is ultimately what he said. He said, Well, you have a theory in place, and there that theory cannot explain any more, what you are observing in the real world, meaning the theories is falling short, to, to explaining what you are observing, a crisis happens, a revolution emerges. And a new theory has to take place, that that includes the old, and also the new. And I think right now we are at an inflection point where we're going through a social or political or financial crisis of sorts, where we are like a snake that is ditching the old skin and trying to, you know, do the do new, right. We are, there are many of us that are trying to ditch the old skin, you know, we're trying to ditch the old models that we know don't work anymore, that are very powerful groups of people that are clinging to those old models. And we know they don't work. But I think eventually we are going to be at a place where we are like, alright, this is the new, we're not forgetting the old. We're just embracing the new and I'm hoping that we can get there. Carley Hauck 48:57 Well, I would love to continue this conversation. There's so many so many threads I'd love to follow up with. But for our time today, I know that you're going to be trying to solve for some of this, and hacking HR. This is where this community this collective intelligence is coming together. And you have a summit that is starting in October, and I'm going to be part of that summit. I'm so excited. I'll be on one of the panels. Enrique Rubio 49:24 But we have we actually have a lot of events coming up. You know, in October, we have the every month we do a hacking HR series. And next month, which is you know, in October so we're recording this at the end of September. Next month, we have the October series and it's called Hacking October series. The soft is a strategy so we're going to be talking about how soft quote unquote soft skills impact business performance and strategy and you know, productivity and results and whatnot. So I am super excited about the conversation because it pertains to people to culture, to soft skills and all that? Carley Hauck 50:05 Well, I will be putting a link in the show notes because it's free people people can join for free. And the panel that I'll be on is about building a foundation of mental well being and adaptability and corporate culture on October 17. And we kind of spoke to some of that today. So I have lots of ideas to share. Enrique, this was so amazing. Is there anything else you want to leave our listeners with or anything that you'd love to have them? You know, see, so they can find you Enrique Rubio 50:35 join us on hugging HR on LinkedIn, follow me on LinkedIn, and you know, just be part of the good stuff that we're talking about. Carley Hauck 50:44 Thank you so much. Unknown Speaker 50:45 Thank you. Thank you so much. Carley Hauck 50:48 Before we end, these are some questions I have been pondering on quite a lot. And Enrique and I didn't have time to discuss on the air, but I wanted to share them aloud as inflection points with a few solutions. What are the expectations we have of leaders right now? Is the bar set too high? Based on the skill sets they have to operate from? And the conditions they are working with inside? And outside the organization? Are we equipping our leaders to meet the challenges and expectations of managing remote distributed teams with the right skill sets and the right support and resources? And lastly, how do we solve for burnout inside organizations? These are big problems that I believe everyone can come together with our collective intelligence to solve. But the way that we solve for some of them, is we invest in learning and development. Learning and Development pays dividends. In so many ways. We know that in this distributed remote workforce. It not only supports people to connect, and opportunities to grow within the company. But it supports engagement. It helps people to feel like they're being invested in their professional and their personal growth at work, which is a very high value for most employees. If you want to retain your employees, if you want to build community, you will invest in learning and development. And we need to do it in a way that gives people time to actually take advantage of the learning of the training. One idea that I'm proposing is that we empower people of all levels to block off their calendar for learning. It showcases to their team, they're in learning mode. And it could be that we offer an amount of 10 hours a month that they are devoted to learning. And this actually can be linked to what great performance looks like at the company. Leaders are learners and we all have the opportunity to be leaders as a way of solving for burnout. What do we think about enforcing a four day workweek? I know thread up which is one company I really love and had been following has implemented this, and some other companies have found great benefits to employee wellbeing. What about the idea of creating an untouchable day for everyone? Hence the benefit of a four day workweek? Let's face it with all the responsibilities of home, family and work. What if we had one extra day to just breathe, to be to enjoy? Would we show up at work in our relationships at home more resourced, more creative, with more play and well being? I imagine we would. And what do you think about implementing no meetings one day a week? How would we empower employees to also opt out of meetings if there is no agenda set? All the research shows that more meetings leads to exhaustion, lack of engagement and then more meetings. So what if we instead really empowered folks to have no meetings one day a week, and to opt out of meetings when there wasn't a clear agenda set for why they needed to attend. September is Self Care Month. And as we are still resetting, recovering from the last couple years, but even the decade before that, of not focusing on a people centered strategy, it's so important that we upskill our leaders with the resources to be able to prioritize for self care, so that they can lead themselves well, and then lead others well. This is the priority of leadership and manager effectiveness that I see now and into the near future. Leaders need to be leading together and relying on the collective intelligence and leadership of those above them, beside them and below them. This is leading its scale. And it requires a high degree of some of the conscious leadership competencies that Enrique and I spoke about before self awareness, resilience, humility, so that we can empower others, and lead together inspiring networks of teams to lead. Thank you, Enrique for joining me in this conversation and building a community where the human Renaissance professionals can come together to help solve people problems for the greatest good of organizations and the world. Do you want to grow your inner game so you can be a conscious leader at work life and in the world? Here are three ways come to the hacking HR summit in October, the link will be in the show notes. And I will be speaking with a group of wonderful leaders October 17, on the topic, cultivating resilience, building a foundation of mental well being and adaptability in corporate culture. This will be at 9am to 10am. Pacific Standard Time, go get my book, and hard copy or audiobook shine has been voted as one of the top 10 books to read and 22 I know it's 23. But if you didn't read it, and 22 Let me tell you, I wrote this book for this time. It is my legacy. And it will stand the test until we've solved for some of these big problems. And lastly, are you seeking a passionate people leader who wants to build and partner with senior leadership and the executive team on a people first culture where people and business are intertwined, and this can both thrive? I am your next great leadership hire. And I am so excited to serve the right team and company right now. If you missed the last podcast episode, I was interviewed by CEO Coco brown. You can learn more about the internal director above level role I am seeking the results I have provided to cutting edge companies as an HR consultant Learning and Leadership Development Professional, what I can contribute now. And the link of that podcast episode is in the show notes. I would love to have a conversation with you to be introduced to new opportunities and people. Thank you so much for your support. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like to address about the podcast or other conversations, please email me at support at Carley hauck.com And finally, thank you for tuning in and being part of this community. I have several incredible interviews coming up on the shine podcast. So make sure you're subscribed and until we meet again. Be the light and shine your light

69. What are the most needed leadership skills to create a healthy organizational culture in 2024 with Carley Hauck & Coco Brown

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2023 47:07

This Shine podcast interview kicks off Season 6. The number 1 priority for HR in 2023 and 2024 is leadership and manager effectiveness. The current and future talent are assessing companies differently than before. People and especially high performers are looking at a company's commitment to diverse leadership, how the senior leadership is walking their talk, psychological safety, professional development, and continued growth opportunities within the company. A company's continued relevance, success, and expansion will be based on the consciousness of the leaders it grows and retains. In this podcast, learn how you can prioritize and design a learning and leadership strategy for long game success. We talk about the successful learning and leadership program results I have directed and why I am your next great leadership hire. Experience a powerful awareness practice you can use to foster greater well being, inclusion and belonging in yourself, your relationships and at work. This inspiring episode will support you to advocate for learning and leadership development as a must have, rebuild the manager pipeline, and skill up the next generation of leaders to create a purposeful and healthy organization that is thriving. Episode Links: Athena salon- Becoming a Conscious Leader: The Skills You Need to Create a healthy organization in 2024. LinkedIn SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social: LinkedIn IG Website Shine Podcast Page IMPERFECT SHOW NOTES Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am host of the shine podcast. This podcast has been flickering strong since May 2019. I began the podcast due to all the research I was conducting. In interviews with organizational leaders, lead scientists, academic researchers and spiritual teachers for my new book shine, ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. I wrote my book to inspire a new paradigm of conscious leadership and business that was in service of higher purpose to help humans flourish, and regenerate our planet. The podcast focuses on the science and application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about the theme of our season, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on shine or go to your favorite podcast platform carrier. That way you don't miss one episode. Thank you. This season is going to be focused on what leadership skills are most needed to create a healthy organizational culture. Leadership and manager effectiveness has been deemed the number one priority for HR in 23. And every person listening, whether you have a formal leadership title, or not, you are a leader. We all have the responsibility to lead around something that we care about whether it's at home with our family, and our communities, and or in the workplace. I believe in you. And I am so delighted to share with you such an incredible group of people and interviews that I have gathered for this season. I handpick every single guest based on their embodiment of conscious, inclusive leadership and the positive impact they're making. I am delighted you are here. And onto the podcast. Currently, I'm really excited to be interviewing you today. I think it's fabulous for the podcaster to be the podcast it and and I know I suggested the idea that I that I interview you for your beautiful podcast, largely because I believe in you and I'm excited about you and your future and, and so much of what you do and what you're talking about is resonates tremendously with what we do at Athena and what I'm all about. So I'm just by way of introduction, I'm the I'm the founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, which is an amazing community of over 1200 senior women leaders who are building a portfolio of impact, who are lifelong learners who are invested in learning agility, who are building the next paradigm for what it means to be a leader. So so many of the things that we're doing resonate with what you do. Thank you. And I'm delighted to be a member of Athena, and so touched by your sponsorship and your own leadership. Well, let's get started. So Carley, maybe you can tell us a little bit about who you are. Thank you. So I wear many different roles and identities like many people, but I'll start with I'm a daughter, proud, auntie, a sister, climate leader, a book mama. And I'm also a founder of a leadership and development consultancy. And I started this business which is more important for the conversation we'll have today. So I'll speak a little bit more about it, leading from wholeness. I began in 2010. And I have worked not only as the founder, but then the director of learning leadership and organizational development. And this consultancy empowers people with the skills to create flourishing and human centered organizations that are aligned with a deeper purpose about caring for people and planet. Not I just profit. And in the last decades and starting this business, I have had the great privilege to exclusively partner with internal senior stakeholders. Top companies like LinkedIn, Capital One Asana, think to the west. I've been an adjunct instructor at Stanford for over nine years. I've also served adventhealth, Pixar, Clif Bar Genentech, and so many other incredible leaders and companies, on the cutting edge of everything, I mean, these are truly transformative companies too. And here you are in the middle of transformation. Currently, you have worked with so many incredible companies over the 12 years that you've been building up your practice and your confidence and what you bring to this world of learning and development and evolution of senior leadership. Why? Why take that and move it into one company? Now? What? Why not keep experiencing all of these different companies? Thank you so much for the question. One of the things that I've been really noticing about my, my journey, as a, as a founder and CEO of my consultancy is I have really thrived when I've been able to exclusively partner with one senior leadership team and one company. And for example, I worked in an exclusive partnership with Bank of the West for three and a half years. And the impact that I was able to make across the 9000 person company from the leaders to, you know, individual contributors was incredible. I mean, I know that I impacted 3500 people that I got to meet, you know, and had some real experience and learning and leadership with them. And that's where I felt the best. And I have been really excited for this opportunity to create even more impact, because there are certain roadblocks that you have when you're external. And I knew after that experience that I wanted to be internal. And the other pieces that I have noticed about my personality that I'm much more of a chief people person, you know, supporting the senior leadership team, the greater strategy, the business objectives, but also really making sure that the culture is thriving. And that's being part of the team versus kind of being outside of the team and influencing the team. And I think that my experience and learning and team and leadership development could translate into a director or above role. I also think once I'm inside, I would likely want to explore moving into a chief people officer or chief learning officer role. I also feel that my skill sets could translate into being a chief of staff working alongside either the CEO, the chief people officer, or the chief learning officer helping with strategy, supporting the executive leadership team, executive summits, you know, putting my coaching hat on to help with collaboration. So that's, that's the reason and that's what I'm really excited about in this next professional step. I love that. What do you love about your work? Well, I, I love learning. And I'm always learning in this role. I've worn every single, you know, hat I can imagine around learning and leadership development. But the other thing that I've learned about myself is that I'm I'm really here for transformation. And so I love being able to inspire and ignite the potential in people, teams and culture that really supports the greatest and highest good. And so just to give a quick example, I am working in the hat of a team coach right now for a really wonderful senior leadership team. And they are in the forming so the beginning stages of a team. And like most teams, even though they've they've been working as a team for the last several months. They just jumped right into the deliverables, the business objectives, but they didn't really create the foundation for team effectiveness for you know, what are agreements for communication, how are we going to navigate conflict Are we even creating a Are we even creating a space where we feel safe to speak up to challenge one another. And so, trust was really low, and accountability was really low. And their collective well being was really low, because they're not being very effective with their time. And they haven't set up these really core foundations. But at the end of our very first session, the trust was there, you know, they were creating agreements for psychological safety, and they were starting to get really clear on how they could team best with one another. And so just within 90 minutes, I was able to see them shine, I was able to see the transformation and that is what just makes me feel alive. And and I know that I'm doing the right work. I resonate with that so much. I have been in that leadership team. I have led that team, you know, so I, I get exactly what you're talking about. And it is, all the early days a bit lost in translation, not understanding how one part one person interprets versus another, and even probably more challenging and difficult when it's when we're less likely to be in person to have any unstructured time together. Mm hmm. Yeah, the navigation of distributed remote teams is is a whole other challenge that leaders, I don't think have really been trained in how to navigate. Okay, use that word twice. But there it is. Yeah, what? It's a good one, what can you bring to a leadership role? And what problems can you solve? My expertise lies in the strategy, human centered design, the direction and facilitation of employee engagement, you know, delivering dei initiatives, team and leadership development programs that really are aligned with the business objectives, but also in supporting a healthy organizational culture. And I have several years of experience designing, building, delivering scaled programs, including in person experiences, virtual learning, incorporating the diagnostics, and the metrics so that we know what outcomes are actually happening as a result of these programs. It also includes executive coaching, group coaching, community building, and then also, you know, partnering with internal stakeholders, and potentially even outside vendors to really support the overall learning and leadership development. I've also directed and managed a team of learning professionals, which might include facilitators, you know, more junior coaches, project managers, instructional designers, I love facilitation, I have over 10,000 hours of facilitating, it's just been one of the gifts I was given when I, you know, got here on this planet, and I love facilitating different courses and team development sessions, and also supporting other facilitators to really step into their strengths as facilitators. And I have also really enjoyed developing and leading efforts to help the company Hone, what kind of culture do we want to build here? And what are the values of the company that we can actually bring into leadership capabilities, so that the people that are leading are actually exemplifying those values and that culture and what they say and what they do, that's really important to me. I also feel like what I can bring to a role is to, you know, be able to share some of the metrics that we're seeing, you know, analyzing participant feedback, program evaluations, looking at the data to identify gaps and make recommendations for program enhancements. I have been a lead consultant for three different NIH funded clinical trials. And so I'm a bit of a leadership nerd, but all So a data nerd. And I just think it's always important to be looking at the baseline of where you are, and then measuring over time, qualitatively and quantitatively, what impact these programs these initiatives are actually having. And not just, you know, saying, Oh, we just we just gave a psychological safety keynote. But how is that actually impacting people? How is that creating a sustainable part of the culture where, where people actually feel like they're equipped to have conversations that have a foundation of psychological safety, I think the other thing that I bring is I am a connector, I love people. And so it's been actually really easy for me to connect with C suite leaders, senior stakeholders, I'm always invited in by those people to help solve people problems. And I think influencing those leaders to do what's best for people in the company is something that comes naturally to me, and I've had a lot of success that that was a bit of a mouthful, but I've been doing this work for a long time. But that's what I feel confident I can bring. Yeah, and clearly engendering a lot of trust, in part because it's illustrated in how you're talking to me now. You're just such a very thoughtful person in all of these things that you've endeavored to do. And you take it extremely seriously. Tell me about it. Tell me about the most successful or I don't know one of the most successful l&d programs that that you've run that you're really excited and proud about. Wonderful. Well, this was a program that I delivered last year, and it's one of the many, but this one had just some incredible impact. And I was invited to develop a conscious leadership program based off my book, which has a wonderful framework on how to be a conscious, inclusive leader. And my sponsor at Capital One for this program, had met me during my book launch in 2001, and really loved my book. And then we developed this great relationship. And so this particular program was a pilot. I'm a big fan of piloting, we want to pilot to make sure that we see success. And then from there, we can refine, and reiterate and scale. But this was brought to 40 directors and senior directors amidst a really big reorg. So this, in many ways, was the first time that these directors and senior directors were working together. And they were across three different business functions. So tech, product and design, the task of this particular development program was to one kick off the program in a way that senior stakeholders were invested to really make sure that I was coordinating with the, you know, internal Chief of Staff's the program managers, and the communications team so that there was an efficient delivery of the information and also the right leaders were being picked for this program. There was also, you know, different metrics and team assessments and individual assessments. So all of those things needed to go out at the beginning, and to really, again, align with those internal folks to make sure that this program was really seamless. And then the program itself actually was delivered to cohorts of 13 to 14, I find that intimacy in groups is really what creates more impact and lasting change. So you know, less is more. And this these cohorts of leaders were high potentials. And they, they were sponsored for the program, but they were also being given the opportunity, you know, to opt out if, it didn't work for them at that time. I think it's really important that people feel like they can say no, even if their company is investing in their learning and leadership. And so essentially what the program look like it was over six months, it included bi weekly group facilitation, coaching, asynchronous learning, with videos, audios, pure exercises, and then there were 12 different modules that included knowledge, practice feedback, or flexion. And this is all to support integration and habit formation. And the results of the program were really astounding, I was taking, you know, again, baseline, and then we had a mid assessment. And then we had the assessment at the very end to see what the impact was. All participants increased four out of nine important leadership competencies, which is incredible, because they were only asked to invest in one to two. And each person kind of knew their ranking on where they were high and where they were low in these nine leadership competencies that I've done a lot of research around to know that these are the skills that actually support leaders to be conscious, inclusive leaders and therefore create high performing teams trust, psychological safety, all these wonderful things that we all need and want. At the end of the program, there was a 47% increase in psychological safety, there was a 25% increase in effective decision making, there was a 74% increase in empathy, which is huge, because that's something that most of us need more support in, there was a 59% increase in self awareness and resilience, there was a 20 to 30% increase in employee engagement. And then at the end of the program, we were able to see 20 to 30% increase in career mobility. So that is a program I feel really proud of. That's amazing. Tell us if so I think I missed the part. But tell us what are the skills and competencies you mentioned? There are nine, what are the skills and competencies leaders need to succeed at the intersection of people culture and strategy? Well, the the nine that I've researched, and I wrote about in my book shine, are really focusing on what we are cultivating on the inside, because what we're cultivating on the inside shows up on the outside. In other words, the inner game rules, the outer games. And not only what I found in this program, but what I feel is really relevant for what leaders need now is I'll just kind of quickly go into the nine but then I'll bring in some of the research and what I what I think companies could really benefit from investing in right now. And so self awareness is key self management, empathy, resilience, which is having that growth mindset. I'm a big believer in well, being psychological and physical well being are two of those nine conscious leadership capabilities, humility, self belonging, and some folks might not know what that means. But self belonging was four different aspects of belonging to the self, which is self forgiveness, self love, self acceptance, self compassion, because if we're not able to give those to ourselves, and we can't give it to others, and then we tend to be more reactive, impatient, you know, aggressive leaders versus conscious and inclusive. And then lastly, mindfulness, which really allows us to pay attention to the present moment. And that supports us in having effective decisions and looking at the consequences of our actions, not for the short term, but the long game. And so those those are the nine. Let's see incredible. What are the skills and competencies that you feel leaders need now to succeed at the intersection of people culture and strategy? This is such a great question. One of my favorite things to speak about. So before I answer in full, I'm just gonna share a little bit of research on some of the trends that I've been looking at in learning in HR. So the first one is that the number one priority for HR in 2023 is manager and leadership effectiveness. But as we know, this won't be solved in 2023, especially that we're in September of 2023. Because it's a really hard nut to crack. And I believe that it's going to be a long game solution. And additionally, LinkedIn found research that 94% of employees say that they would invest and stay at a company longer if it was prioritizing learning and leadership development. So I need both of those because I think what is so important and vital is that LMD has sometimes been kind of a niche business unit, you know, sometimes lumped in with HR sometimes standing on its own, but I believe that all companies from now until At the end of need to prioritize, and really commit to investing in learning and leadership development, so that businesses are able to succeed in creating healthy organizations. And the reason for that is that we are living in a time of increasing complexity and disruption, and the skills and aspects of leadership from the past, they really don't align with the future of work or more human centered workplace. You know, the command and control authority or authoritarian leader is not going to support what young workers want. And it's not going to support this more compassionate, empathetic workplace, that so many Chief People officers are speaking to. I mean, I've heard everywhere from, you know, the Chief People Officer pay Powell to the Chief People Officer at Microsoft to Satya Nadella at Microsoft empathy is one of the number one people skills that we need. So therefore, we have to develop a different set of skills. And the other thing that's really important for companies to succeed in culture is that young people really want to work for a company that has purpose, in other words, where the company, and the outcome that they're making in the world is about healing, not about harming. So when we even look at a company like Patagonia, where, you know, earlier this year, the CEO said, we're giving away you know, every profit that Patagonia makes, is going to plan it now, that is showcasing a really strong consciousness at the leadership level. And I don't expect that all companies will be able to follow in those footsteps, but it is definitely a North Star. So the other thing that I would say, to answer that question of, you know, what are what are the skills needed? Well, the leaders are the custodian of culture. So again, going back to what we're cultivating on the inside is showing up on the outside. So people are going to follow the leaders example. And therefore we need to prioritize the focus of inner development of people leaders. And I would say across the board, you know, even individual contributors need to learn a basic foundation of self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skill, so that they can listen, they can empathize with one another, they can collaborate, they can communicate. So I would say to create a really thriving culture, we need to invest in the leaders, but we also need to give a basic level of people skills to the whole company, and that's going to support a thriving culture. Managers need to have, I think, a basics in coaching foundations, you know, working as an executive and team coach, I just think it's so vital that people know and have positive experiences, having difficult conversations, you know, having healthy conflict conflict is going to happen, can we create healthy conflict is the question, hold people accountable compassionately. And lastly, instill psychological safety in their one on ones in their team culture. And if the senior leadership and manager is not able to do these basic aspects of leading, then I don't believe that the deliverables of the business are going to be solved. And at the end of the day, the organization is not going to be healthy. One of the very first things that I often will assess for is the presence or the absence of psychological safety. And if that isn't there, which in most teams and greater organizations, there are some ranges of where it's present and where it's not. It's really hard to implement change. And it's really hard to innovate. And so I'll just kind of leave it at that early, you clearly have so much to offer and have been a deep student of your space. Nothing superficial here at all in your 12 years. Um, outside of organizations while being inside, I think is been a tremendous value to your ability to Research to not just develop your platform and your ideas and not just ideas, but your confidence in, in, in what you know, comes from insights that you have developed through working with many, many, many different teams as opposed to one or two over those years, it's clear that you will bring a ton to the internal role you're looking for. In wrapping this all up, how, how do we learn more about you? Well, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn, I'm always open to new conversations, opportunities, if anybody, you know, would love to talk to me about a role that they're hiring for, or they're thinking of hiring for I would love to create some time, before we come to an end of this podcast episode, wanted to ratchet the energy down and in with an awareness practice that will serve you to be the best person that you can be. Every podcast episode, I like to bring in practices that we can utilize right away in our life. And only you have control over your response, your behaviors, and how you show up with yourself, then, is transmitted to every other person that you encounter in your life. As you heard, in my conversation with cocoa, I spoke about nine different inner game leadership skills. And they start with each of us. And this framework was developed because of my own deep practice. In these leadership competencies, I started a meditation practice when I was 19. And I spent 13 years with two to three weeks of silence a year. And at the end of last year on my sabbatical, I spent a month in silence. And I share this with you because it is called a practice because it's a constant practice. And I can't stop practicing and expect to continue to be the kind of person that I want to be unless I'm committed to the refining, the learning the growing the healing, because as the world becomes complex, and things keep changing, we need these practices even more. So this particular practice, is one that's going to take about six or seven minutes. So if you can't listen to it right now, go ahead and speed up to the end so that you don't miss out on the special resources that I leave at the end. And you can always come back to this later. And if you have time to even just get a sneak peek, you can continue to listen. This is a cleansing practice for the mind and heart. It is a practice for reconciliation, healing and forgiveness. And just to share some of the research behind it. I've been part of several NIH funded clinical trials at UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. If we want to really create a workplace where there can be healing and care and belonging, then it starts right here. Begin by taking a slow breath through your nose and a slow exhale out. Let's do that a couple times together. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in. Breathing out. Do any movement to help you come more and more into your body. And bring your attention to your heart. As you breathe in. Feel the heart opening as you breathe out. Feel the heart healing. Breathing in opening, breathing out healing breathing in opening Breathing out, healing, breathing in, opening, breathing out healing bring to mind any instance that occurred in the last few hours or day in which you were hard on yourself. You were critical. You were unkind to yourself and words and actions and self care. You might not have honored a boundary, you might have not honored your truth. This is a practice I am inspired to share based on Ho oponopono which is a very old indigenous practice that has been practiced for a long time and the Hawaiian Islands. And it begins like this. saying this to yourself. I am sorry. I forgive myself. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. I forgive myself. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Just notice what's arising in the heart in the body. Now bring this practice to someone in your life that you are having challenge or friction with. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Breathing in opening, breathing out, healing, breathing in opening, breathing out. Healing. Now let's bring our practice to Mother Earth. Sweet Mother Earth and all aspects of this planet. The mountains, water, soil, all the beings who inhabit this earth, the plants aquatic life, land life, every aspect of the earth that you have found refuge in enjoyment, sustenance, shelter, place one hand on your heart and up to the sky. And say I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Long, deep inhale and exhale. letting that go. And lastly, bringing your hands to a part of your body that would benefit from healing touch the back of the neck, the forehead, the cheek, the belly, the heart, anywhere. Breathing in opening, breathing out healing and say these words silently to yourself. This is bringing in a sense of self belonging. I forgive myself I care for my challenges. I love and accept myself as I am. I forgive myself, I care for my challenges. I love and accept myself as I am. I forgive myself, I care for my challenges. I love and accept myself just as I am. And as we come to a close, reminding yourself that you are strong, and courageous, and resilient, and mind, body and spirit. You are strong, courageous, resilient, and mind, body and spirit. And by you prioritizing and committing to your inner growth, you will have such a tremendous positive impact on everyone in your life and the world. Be the light, and shine. And the other thing that I'm feeling very excited about is that some of what we talked about today, what are the skills needed now, to really have people succeed in culture and strategy and leadership is an upcoming workshop and salon that I'm having with you Coco at Athena, and it is called Becoming a conscious leader the skills you need to create a healthy organization in 2024. And we will be offering this for for free to Athena members, but I'll also create a link in the show notes with the discount code shine and capital letters, so that you can attend if you're available on September 28. From noon to one Pacific Standard Time. We'd love to have you join us. Well, thank you for letting me sort of be the host of your podcasts so that I could interview you for one of your episodes. This was so much fun. Thank you so much Coco, I am delighted to have your sisterhood and your support today. Wow, that was such a treat to be interviewed by Coco Brown. A leader I respect admire so much. Coco is going to be a future guest this season. And I am so excited to share that interview with you. Plus, Don't you just love her name. I haven't told this to Coco, but she's gonna hear it now. I feel like she has this inner rock star diva that is just waiting to come out. I can't wait for that. Listening is one part of learning. But then we need to create practices to instill what we hear into powerful action. So on that note, do you want to grow your inner game so that you can be a conscious leader at work life and in the world? Here are three ways all the links will be in the show notes. One use this podcast. It is a wealth of learning and development and in fact for a lot of the learning and leadership development programs I have offered. I actually resource this podcast as part of the learning the asynchronous learning. So there are some incredible leaders and all you have to do is go back to our previous episodes. Go get my book shine. It has been voted one of the best books the top 10 In fact by mindful magazine that you should read in 2022 it is in hard copy and audiobook and it's my voice so if you are resonating with my voice now you might love the audiobook and I would love to hear your reaction of the book. I have not received one bad review and I am grateful. Come for a deeper dive with me and cocoa on September two 28 with our salon that we are offering on becoming a conscious leader. This is through the Athena Alliance membership, but you are going to get a free admission. If you put in the discount code shine in all caps. You can join us on September 28, noon to one Pacific Standard Time and get a sneak peek of what Athena is about and actually meet some of the other incredible powerhouse women that are part of this network. And then a personal ask for me. As you heard, I am so excited and ready to step into a director above level internal role bringing my gifts and passion for culture, and for leadership. I'm currently interviewing with some great companies. And as you know, it's all about the network. If you know of someone I should meet, please connect us with us short intro or reach out to me on LinkedIn. If you are aware of opportunities that you think would be a great fit, please send them my way and reach out on LinkedIn. And if I can support you in any of your leadership challenges, please reach out. I love to help people with resources, connections, and deep listening. If you have any questions, comments or topics that you would like me to address, please email me at support at Carly help.com I would love to hear from you. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. Thank you for tuning in being part of this community. And until we meet again, my friend, be the light and shine your light

Ask for More- How to Negotiate Fairly with Simina Simon and Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2023 50:30

Description: This SHINE podcast interview is with my friend, colleague, and Chief People Officer Siminia Simion. In this interview, Siminia and I speak about a few very important themes. First we speak about how we can increase our conscious “inner game” skills to be skillful in asking for what we desire and negotiate anything. We talk about how we can embody skills of empathy and humility to be compassionate leaders during hiring and layoffs. I use a powerful coaching framework to guide Siminia in how to ask for more in a future negotiation. Lastly, we share important topics of what you can negotiate for in the initial interview and offer stages of a professional role. This inspiring episode will empower you to own your worth, identify and ask for the tangible and intangible needs you deserve. Episode Links: Simina Simion Ask for More Book by Alexandra Carter How to Ask for a Raise SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Developmen Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social: LinkedIn Instagram Website Shine Podcast Page Imperfect Shownotes Hi, welcome to the shine podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I'm your host, this is the fifth season of the shine podcast. I started the shine podcast as a way of doing research for my book on conscious leadership in business. And you will find interviews with scientists, researchers and business leaders on the intersection of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. My book debuted in 2021 Shine ignite your inner game of conscious leadership and was voted one of the best books to read in 2022. By mindful magazine, I facilitate two episodes a month of the shine podcast. And before I tell you about the topic for today, please go over to Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast carrier and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes. The focus of this season is on the essentials for wellbeing. And that encompasses the intersection of our personal well being the collective well being of our workplace, and how that fosters and nurtures the planet's well being they are all connected. I focus on well being this season, because I really want to crack the code and inspire folks to prioritize their individual well being and therefore that will transcend into the collective and the planet's well being. And I have developed a inner game leadership assessment that I gave out to 100 different leaders last year. And the leadership assessment is based on the framework of the inner game, which is what we're cultivating on the inside to be conscious leaders. And it shows up on the outside when we cultivated the certain qualities. And two of the nine leadership competencies that were lowest from the sample of 100 leaders were psychological and physical well being. Therefore, that is why we are focusing on well being and if you're curious about where your strengths and gaps are, around the qualities to become a conscious leader, you can take the assessment and find out your score for free. I recently opened to the assessment tool to the public and the link will be in the show notes. Now on to our episode. I am so excited to have this conversation about how to ask for more. And really wonderful practical tips for negotiation. Samina. Thank you so much for being here. Arlie thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat with you today. Well introduce yourself to all of these wonderful listeners. So my name is Amina I, I am a mom, I'm a wife. I am a people leader in the tech world. And I'm also an immigrant. And I came to this country about 13 years ago with big dreams and a passion to add value. And here I am today hopefully being hopeful that I've learned a lot and I grew a lot as a person and as a leader. Thank you and what country did you emigrate from? I was born in Romania. Mm hmm. Lovely. Well, we connected because of the people tech Partners Group that I have been kind of Yeah, just immersed in the last year so many incredible people leaders in that group. And then I also found out that you were good friends with an pal who is another shining light leader in my life. So I'm again just really happy that we've been able to foster this new connection and relationship and I am going to just tee up the podcast a bit so folks know what we're going to be talking about. So Samina and I are going to speak about some of her inner game conscious leadership qualities that have supported her to be the incredible chief people officer that she is. And we're going to talk a little bit more about what has been challenging for her as a CPO, especially given the current economy and the future of work climate. And then we're going to run through a negotiation conversation, that will be me being the coach. It's one of the wonderful hats that I wear. And then really working through a framework that is going to be something that you can apply to yourself, or to support somebody else as they're trying to figure out their negotiation terms for a new role. Or frankly, it could even be how do you negotiate buying a new house or car or a conversation with your partner? I mean, it's all clickable. And then we're going to talk about what kinds of things can we negotiate for with roles at the beginning and even you know, when the offer has been given? And specifically, what should female executives be asking for Samina is also going to share some tips. And then at the very end, I will record this coaching framework that Sumeet and I are going to roleplay together so it's packed, it's going to be so great. And let's go ahead and start. So the intersection of this podcast really talks about conscious leadership, high performing teams awareness practices, Samina, I know you're a bit familiar with the framework of conscious leadership that I've developed, there's nine different qualities. And you have read my book. So what leadership quality do you feel is your strongest and which one is an opportunity for growth? Great question. And I feel that resilience is one of my strongest qualities. And probably the second after that is empathy. And the third is humility. But I'll talk about resilience a little bit more. Yeah, it started from, you know, early age, when I realized that I needed to be courageous in order to grow. And I took a few steps, including the one to relocate into a completely new country and start from scratch my career, my community, and realized very early on, that is not always a smooth sailing. And you're going to experience turbulences, and I'm a big fan of Brene, brown, and I like to, to share this point of view with folks that I'm coaching and folks that I work with, you're not going to experience growth, if you're afraid of embracing the suck. And in order to experience that growth, it's it's worth knowing when it's too early, to move away from a situation. I'm a big believer, especially as a female executive, that there are different rules around when executives are departing, departing a company and a role. Ideally, you're never running away, when it's hard. Ideally, you, you stick to it, and you try to solve the problems that you're seeing in front of you and continue to add your value in terms. In times of turbulence, I think that's one of my main qualities. And the thing that helped me experience the most growth in my career, you're probably seen by looking at my profile that I like staying for a long period of time, especially in tech that rarely, a lot of people are staying for five, six years, I've experienced that at least once and experienced a couple of three years Steens in you, especially at a startup, you see a lot of changes. And those are great opportunities to learn and understand how a business is evolving and how you are evolving as a leader. So that I would say that that's probably my my, my main superpower. And the second one that I care deeply about as a people leader and as a leader, as an as a leader in general is empathy is really trying to understand how others are feeling and what is their perspective, to be able to craft programs, Paulus's interventions that make sense, and they don't feel disconnected from the reality. The third one that I think it's a non negotiable, it's humility. It's it's humbleness, and humility. Knowing that you can do it all you it really takes a village to build something exceptional. And you need to have the strength and self awareness to realize that you cannot be good at everything. And it's okay and highly recommended to hire and build teams around you with people who have the qualities that you don't or they're passionate about the things that you might be passionate but you might not have the superpowers to do them really, really well. And that's what I've no Based on how I conduct myself and how I how I like to continue my path as a leader, thank you. To summarize, even though you did it so well yourself, out of the nine different ones, you have listed resilience, which the way you're describing it. And the way that I actually talked about in the book is a growth mindset. You know, how is this challenge for me? How is it a gift, what am I going to learn from it, and then empathy and humility and humility to your point is really about asking for support, you know, acknowledging your vulnerability that you don't know everything, and then asking people to come in and join you and, and help delegate those things that you don't know, so that you empower other people to step in and create this incredible culture. Thank you. What about one that is an opportunity for growth, right now, I've thought about this for quite some time, and an opportunity for growth is carving out time, for my well being, there is a tendency to constantly prove the world that you can do more faster, better, smarter, but what I've learned on my own by experiencing, you know, sometimes challenging times is that if you don't recharge your batteries, you're not gonna go too far, I have a tendency to jump all in. And I had a tendency to really want to see results immediately prove value, as soon as possible. But what I've learned through hard lessons is that you can't control it all. And even if you dedicate yourself 150%, to something, there are so many variables at play, there is no guarantee that just by working hard and doing all the right things, and being always on something that's gonna be successful. As we evolve and grow as human beings, our identity is becoming a well rounded identity, you're not only the professional who works in tech, you're the man who you know, educates and takes care of other human being and how they're going to behave in this world, you're a partner to someone you are a daughter, into someone, a member of the community, there are so many opportunities to give back and add value, the way you see yourself and define yourself should not come only from one angle. So with that in mind, while I will always want to excel in what I do, I'm also becoming more and more aware of the multiple roles that I'm assuming in this world and how I'm showing up in all of them. Because it has to be a balance, it has to be a work life integration, it has to be moments when you give more on one side, and when you give more on the other side, depending on what's happening in life. And that's what I'm trying to transition into and feel good about the fact that you're not always going to be your best self or on your best foot on on your top game, depending on what's happening in life. And that's okay. I hear you are nourishing the well. So that you have what you need to then bring your best is a growth opportunity. And so that actually goes into the next question that I was going to ask that I know you and I have talked about, you know, off the record, which is one of the bigger challenges I think that people like yourself in your role have been navigating with the current economy and future of work is there have been a lot of layoffs. And so, being that you're a leader that leads from love that has a lot of empathy. How have you navigated in your career, how to really send people off with care and compassion, because I've talked to lots of folks and leaders and people that have been the ones that have, you know, delivered it and have been on the receiving end, and it's typically not done with a lot of consciousness, but I know that you do it differently. So share a little more on that. How are you taking care of yourself and then being able to take care of these people in the most graceful kind way that you can under the circumstances, right? Yeah, no, and I'll start with the beginning. As a leader, you always join the company thinking about how the company is going to grow, how to build the businesses gonna succeed, how the great people you have on board are going to grow in their careers and grow as as professionals and as human beings and Then something happens. And it, especially in the last few months, or in the last few years, if we think about the pandemic, where things are not going, according to the plan, no matter how hard everyone is trying, the economy is turbulent there are headwinds in the market. And sometimes you need to make very hard decisions. And some of those hard decisions involve cutting people cutting jobs. And throughout my career, and I've been doing HR for more than 15 years internationally. In Europe, in the US, I work with companies based in in Asia, I found that no matter how much exposure to situations like this, you have as a people leader, if you lead from a point of love, and care and empathy, it's going to be very hard to not be emotionally impacted by something like this. I remember the first layoff that I had to do in the US it's happening, at least in my career, it happened more often after I relocated to the US, and I started to be a people leader. And I remember thinking about how these people have houses, they need to pay for the houses, they have children, they have family members, they need to take care of, they need to put food on the food on the table, they need to pay their bills, and I was thinking, wow, losing your job is one of the most dramatic, traumatic experiences someone can have. And the fact that the company is not growing fast enough, or it doesn't optimize stores profitability fast enough, or it needs to look better on paper for whatever is going to happen next, it doesn't make the impact of these decisions, less stressful for the people on the receiving end. So as a people leader, I've always thought about if I would be in these people's shoes, and by the way it can happen at any point in anyone's careers, what would be my preference in how I would like to be treated? What will mean to me that I'm being laid off with respect, where I still keep at least some of my self esteem, that I've built throughout the years in my career, in what will help me land in the best possible way on my feet, right? And I thought about it. And I talked to people that was questions, who were let go senior professionals, folks in the beginning of their careers. And I looked at the data on how much savings people have in the US if something like this happens. And the reality is that not a lot of people have a lot of savings to count on. And I really try to think about a couple of things, one, from an economical perspective, what is a decent package that's going to help people land on their feet, given that it takes between three to five months to find a job. Yet, it seems like in Dec is around three months, even now with distributed market, because a lot of new jobs are being created. So that's one variable that went into the model. The second one was one, the economical terms are being approved. And there is some, you know, safety net for at least two or three months, and there is health insurance on the table as well. Because unfortunately, America is a country that does not offer that by default, and you have to pay for it. And it's quite expensive. Then I went into how do we communicate? How do we communicate with care with empathy? How do we make sure that everyone feels that they're still respected on their way out, even though we need to share some pretty terrible news? How can we make sure we partner with the employees who are being terminated to equip them with the skills that they need to apply for unemployment to revamp their resumes to prep for the interview, it's really hard to have your confidence that after being laid off, and we're talking in this market about multiple rounds of layoffs, I have friends and people who are very close to me and my family who got laid off multiple times, once in COVID, one or two times now, that takes a toll on self esteem, how you're showing up in the world. Let's not even go to negotiating an offer you're hoping to get over all you can even think about asking for more optimizing for the best possible result. Totally. I'm always thinking about one, give them the package that it's going to provide a softer landing, landing to make sure they have health insurance. Three, make sure you communicate with empathy and care for prep them for what they need to do ideally in the first week or month after a layoff make sure people are equipped on how to get their benefits back on employment, how to claim Cobra and then really help rebuild that confidence by looking at the resumes the LinkedIn profile, practicing interviewing, introduced introducing people of two companies looking for great talent so that everyone can, as quickly as possible get back on their feet. It's a traumatic experience. And if as leaders, we don't do it with a lot of care, it's going to backfire. And it's not going to help one the company is not going to help the brand is not going to help help the leaders attract new team members, when when the market gets better, is not going to help the society in general, To bring myself into the mix of this, I started interviewing and applying for internal director and VP roles and learning and development in 2020. And it is now 2023, there were two offers and 2020. They were rescinded because of layoffs. So for me being that I'm still in it, still interviewing, still applying some of what I've experienced is that there are 1000 people to the one role that I'm applying for, I had a job tell me an employer rather tell me that they had 4000 plus 4000 people applied to the role that I applied for. And so, you know, depending on your industry, because there's not a lot of learning and development people even though they are so we need to equip leaders with the right tools to lead the organization. But it, it's trying, so I, you know, I can definitely relate, and I think some of your tips are really helpful. So let's move into our negotiation conversation. Let's pretend that you are getting ready to have a conversation because you've been given an offer. And I'm going to wear the hat of coach and this is a framework that you can apply to any negotiation that you're having. But I'm just gonna tee it up. So Samina, it's so great to see you. I'm so excited for you that you have this new offer that you're considering. And tell me a little bit about the context, what is the offer? What do you feel excited about? And then we'll go from there. I'm very excited about the offer that I just received, because it's for a company that solves hard problems. I see the signs of really healthy culture. It seems that a company is financially stable, especially in this market, and they have enough runway. And it feels like there is product market fit and the company can continue to grow. If if they execute according to the plan. So that excites me quite a bit because that means we can create more jobs, we can really scale or what we're offering to the market here in the US, potentially internationally. It's really creating the foundation for building something that is intentional, and it can scale intentionally, and really create that force multiplier in delivering business results. So that's what excites me. I'm also excited about the terms of the offer. Let me let me just paraphrase quickly what I heard you say. So I hear that you're very excited about this offer for a few reasons. One, it's a company that is solving hard problems. And I hear that that is really motivating for you you want to work for a purpose driven organization, I also hear that there is a healthy culture on the inside. So the leaders that are leading it are conscious, and you want to work with that type of leadership, and be able to really contribute. I also hear that they have a runway that allows them to be able to be secure, you know, financially stable in this economy in this market. And therefore you can scale intentionally did I miss anything you did not spot on. And you were about to elaborate a little bit more something else you feel excited about tell me and I feel excited about the economics of the offer because I find them being fair. And I'm saying fair for a reason. I care deeply about fair. Of course I care about optimizing a really good offer and really good terms but as a people leader, I'm also keeping an eye on internal equity among peers, making sure that you know while is the right type of offer for the valid right I bring it also that doesn't, you know break the stability internally because that's that's another problem then that can be created and It's pretty painful to solve for once it's there. So I'm looking at a lot of the things and while you know the monetary aspect is important, and don't get me wrong is very important. And life is expensive right now, there are other elements of an offer that make it an absolute no brainer. What I'm hearing is there's tangible needs, and there's intangible needs that would make this a yes. Like an absolute Yes. So what do you need that's tangible? And what do you need? It's intangible. I think from a tangible perspective, you need to make sure that you're fairly compensated, you're compensated at the market. And now here, hopefully, it's going to be an easier conversation in the next few years, because of the pay Transparency Act. Really good progress, really good momentum is not a black box anymore. When you start applying and interviewing with companies, you kind of know, you know, where they are, what are the bands, so you know, is it for me, or if it's, or it's not, for me, for example, if you're in California, and you interview for a leadership role, and they pay you 100k, you're probably going to say this is not for me, I cannot afford to leave here, right? So that that simplifies the conversation quite a bit. Now, every company is different, every company has a different philosophy in terms of pay, some companies are going to pay your 50th percentile, others are going to pay your 75th percentile, others are going to be more aggressive on the variable, others on the on the base, it different flavors, right. But at the end of the day, if it's fair, if it's market for the role, how much funding they have, if they're a private company, how much ARR they have done all of that, you kind of know where you are, and what ballpark. Now the non tangible things are very important when it comes to the new reality after COVID. What kind of life do we want to have as people and as professionals? What is more valuable to me? Or what is the environment that really works for my life? And how I want to craft my life? Am I an in person, type of professional or I'm a remote type of professional? Do I value to have flexibility? Or do I value routine and being in the office every single day? Because that's the environment that that I'm thriving in? And that's how I build connections, and there is no right or wrong answer. I don't believe in one size fits all, I don't believe that only remote is the way to go. And I also don't believe that only in office is the way to go. I think there are different situations, different businesses, and particularities that are helping leaders make the decision if it's in office, or if it's hybrid, or if it's remote, right. But a lot of candidates have preferences. And they've done it both ways. And people feel strongly about it still did seems like the opportunities are not as many as they used to be for the remote roles. And a lot of the companies are starting to bring people back to in office five days a week or hybrid. But if you ask in your negotiation come conversation about remote like how would you ask that very openly? What is the what is the culture at Company X? What is the expectation right now? Do we have what is the policy? Right? Do we think the policy is gonna change if it's going to change? Is there a framework in which the leadership is going to make the decision for example, I remember when we started COVID, at one of my previous companies, and I told people and I promise, I'm not going to promise the model is not going to change, I can't promise that I don't know how the world is going to evolve. I don't know what's going to be needed from a business perspective. But what I can promise is that I'm not going to surprise people with two weeks notice that up starting two weeks from now, we're going to be back in the office. And I promised all the invoices that we're going to give them and each other a six month heads up to be able to adjust and change our lives accordingly to either adjust to the new reality that we are trying to create or to vote with our feet and say, this is probably not the right fit for me and where I am in life today. Therefore, it's probably better for me to depart the business. Yeah, totally. I'm going to ask you two more coaching questions. And I know that this is probably going to be something we'll continue to talk about and something that I'd love for you to even journal about. But we're getting clear on what are the tangible what are the intangible needs? And then I want to ask, what is your concern? What What concerns do you have about this role? And then lastly, like what would make this an absolute yes for you? Should I start with the concerns? Yeah, let's go there. Ah, Mmm hmm. That's such an interesting question. It really depends on the company and the stage of the company. So it's really hard to, to answer it without having a clear example in front of me, right? Talking about hypothetical businesses. But the examples are mostly around the opportunity in front of you, as a leader in front of me as a leader, in what skills are needed to nail that stage of growth, or turbulences, or whatever is happening in the company, I would be very interested in what is the next stage of growth after the current one? And do I have the potential to grow and scale with the company because I have a clear idea in my mind that I'm open to be challenged by other leaders in the industry that executives are a great fit for a particular stage of growth. And after that, it needs to, you know, a little bit of a self assessment needs to happen to really ask yourself, am I the right leader for the next stage of growth in this company or not? And that takes a lot of courage and self awareness, to be able to, and humility to be able to have that conversation with yourself. But every time I'm looking at an opportunity I'm looking at, can I get can I grow and scale with the business? What if they grow really fast? Why did they grow Not so fast, and they experienced a lot of turbulence is how much resilience? Do I need to show? And at what point and right like, How much am I willing to be in that turbulent time? How long is it going to be right? I think that goes back to the psychological and physical well being the balance of it all. What are you saying? Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. And that's a good, that's a good internal conversation to have with yourself as a candidate, to really run towards something and not to run away from something. Yeah, I'm a big believer in when someone starts a new role, when you're looking at the non tangibles, and obviously, the tangibles as well. At the end of the day, to feel really good about the opportunity and to know deep down inside your soul that you're running towards something. Because if you're running towards something, no matter how hard it is, no matter how many turbulences you're going to experience, no matter how good of a fit, you are for the next three stages of growth, and maybe you're great for one or two, and you need to fire yourself before stage three, because the company needs a different type of leadership, you're going to do it with a lot more passion, if you don't find those connections. And at the end of the day, being passionate about something, it's probably one of the strongest predictors. I've seen in my in my entire career journey. Now what can break a decision or what will make a decision a no brainer in someone in my role in my shoes, or in your shoes, it comes back to the chemistry between the leadership team or between you and your manager. There are so many flavors of the ice cream at this level, especially when it comes to leadership roles in everybody. All a lot of people got to leadership roles, because they've done great work in their careers. They accomplished a lot. They worked hard, they worked hard. I don't think at this level, it comes a lot to do you have the skills to do it. It's about how you do it. How do you how do you invite the other partners to your table so that you can make progress together? Influence and collaborate? I hear? Yeah, I think it comes down to that. And it comes down to that chemistry between the people working together. So it sounds like you're getting really clear on the tangible and the intangible. And then also what I'm hearing is, what would make this a total? Yes, is the chemistry of the other leaders. So they're dating. Both ways. And in order to be ready to marry someone, both sides need to do their due date a few years. Yes, but both sides need to do their due diligence and to make sure that why the moral compass of the other party to how they operate best when they are best on or when they are not at best. And you know, what kind of master sometimes shows up if they're stressed or under resource or you know, all sorts of things that can happen in organizations. Probably that's the most important factor that I'm taking into into consideration when saying yes, and going to the altar with with a new company. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for sharing all of that. So in the last couple of minutes and I'll I'll share this framework of some of these questions that I asked semina at the end. So you want to listen all the way to the end. So you get those questions you can actually ask yourself, or you can ask another person that is also negotiating something important in their life. But what are some tips that you might give to anyone listening but especially to female executives? What can they start to negotiate in the initial interview stages? And what can they negotiate that you would recommend? You know, during the offer, and the early interview stages, I would clarify the tangibles. I would make sure I get as much clarity as I as I can around those aspects in the late stage of an interview the offer stage, I think it's time the industry to normalize the fact that executives meaning VPs and above should have some protection in place, right. We've seen rounds and rounds of layoffs. We've seen consolidations, we've seen a lot of headwinds, and turbulence is happening in the market. And it's still not common to see severance clauses as part of the all of the executive contracts. Well, I live in California. And I don't know if this applies to executives, but California is an at will state. So they can they can let you go for any reason, even if you didn't do anything wrong. So that doesn't create a lot of security in me as someone that really wants to get married. If you want to be a prenup, yes. And also, if you want to be the executive who's gonna mention the unmentionable in the room who's gonna have the crucial conversation? So it's gonna challenge the status quo. You can't really have those if you're thinking well, do I have money to put food on the table for my kids? Do I have money to pay my mortgage or my rent, when I'm thinking about getting married with someone meaning in this case, starting a new job as a leader, there is a lot of risk on both sides, right? The companies want to get it right. You want your leadership team, ideally, to encompass your core values to model the right behaviors to really drive the business forward. As a leader, you want to make sure that you're not going to be micromanage, you're gonna be respected for your opinion, and the expertise that you're bringing to the table, you also want to be able to challenge the status quo nicely, you're gonna require psychological safety, it's not just a check in the box, that's one of the very first things that I assess, and you got to build at the beginning. Totally. So when you want to have psychological safety, but also move the needle forward, challenge the status quo, I find it hard to be able to address it and addressable. When you're thinking about, well, do I have money to provide food for my family to pay for the house to take care of the kids are other people you need to take care of as a as a as a human being, when that variable is taken care of. And you know that no matter what happens, you're going to have a little bit of a softer landing, because it takes about six months on average to find your net next executive gig, the psychological safety that that relationship, and that pre negotiated contract creates for VPS. And above. It really benefits really beneficial for both parties involved in this, of course, the company is going to protect itself in a similar way. You you know you're going to assess performance, you're going to have OKRs, you're going to measure it if people are not hitting the goals, obviously, you're going to make the hard choices, and you're going to let people go but a found that it's easier to build that psychological safety. If there is clarity around if this doesn't work out. What are what are both parties getting out. Right? What's Yeah, totally. What is our agreement? What is our agreement, having those hard conversations up front are so important. So that's what I'm hearing is a really big takeaway. That's what you can start to have in the interview process, like you're assessing for that. You know, what happens when things get messy? is psychological safety a check in the box or not? Can we have these hard conversations and people still want to be kind and collaborate? And then what are our agreements when things get messy, you know, which isn't doubtedly going to happen because we can't control so that's kind of what I'm hearing. Go ahead. There's there's one good example of this work is the negotiation phase before you decide if it's a yes or if it's a no, that's providing a lot of insight into how the future relationship is going to be. How can you work together to solve a challenge and you're coming from On slightly different angles here, you're trying to meet somewhere in between. And are you approaching this? How are you having those crucial conversations without breaking the relationship by a fair fairness is a key value for you. Yeah. Samina this was so helpful. I imagine it's going to be helpful for so many people not only just talking about how do we support people in layoffs kindly, but also how do we negotiate in a way that is really empowering ourselves and making sure that we're setting ourselves up for success? Thank you so much. And if there's anything else you want to leave our listeners Feel free, we will be linking your contact in the show notes. And if there's anything else you want me to send out, please let me know or share it with folks right now. The only message I have for for people listening to the podcast is knowing their value and not being afraid to ask for what is fair. And what's their worth. It's doesn't come natural, it doesn't come naturally for if you're a woman in tech, if you're a female executive, if you're a minority, but it's the absolute right thing to do. And there are mentors out there. And I love mentoring people on how to do it gracefully, and change some of the practices in the industry. So thank you so much for having me, I love this conversation. And I hope we can meet again and continue our chat. I love it, we will. I am loving this conversation. And as we prepare for this podcast interview to come to a close, I'm going to leave you with three things that will really help you to embody the confidence to ask for what you desire, and what you deserve. And if we don't ask for it, we have no opportunity to receive it to receive it. So I'm going to break this down into three parts. One, I'm going to lead by example, and make a bold request so that I can receive what I desire and what I'm deserving. And hopefully that will be an inspiration to you. Number two, I'm going to share the coaching framework that I used with Samina to help her discern what was her negotiating power and and what were her concerns and what did she really want. This is something you can journal about for yourself, or you can utilize it with others to help them in their negotiations. And this can be applied to anything that you're negotiating for. And then number three, I'm going to share what you can actually negotiate for in the new opportunity and professional path that you are seeking. Alright, you ready? Here we go. So I have had the great privilege and opportunity to serve some wonderful companies, leaders and teams in my business in the last decade. LinkedIn, Pixar, Clif Bar, Asana, capital, one Bank of the West, and then tech adventhealth, I am so grateful. And since 2020, I have known I wanted to join in an internal capacity in directing learning leadership team and org development. And it's been a crazy couple of years in the job market and in the world at large. And I am having some incredible conversations with folks right now exploring the right opportunity. But at the end of the day, it's all about the right fit. And you might be asking, Why do I want this, I want this because I know that this path is where I can create the most influence and have the deepest positive impact with the internal people in the company and therefore, what the company is actually doing in the world. And I'm here to influence business to be a force for good in the world. So if you're an executive search or in the C suite, or you're working for a company where you just think Carly needs to be here we need Carly we need her wisdom and her passion and her skills. Then reach out to me I would love to know your challenges so I can help you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or you know just ping my website there's there's lots of links in the show notes and how to get in touch. If you also are aware of a role that is coming up that hasn't been posted, and you think you know I could help in a full time or fractional capacity reach out. I would love to help and love to have that conversation. Number two, let's go over the negotiate Shin coaching framework that I use with Samina. Now, these are things that you can ask yourself, you can journal about, or you can actually roleplay this with another person. So first you want to share the context, what is the role? Or what is the thing that you are negotiating for? And then if you're doing this with another person, you want to summarize what you heard them say, summarizing what you heard them say, not what you think you heard them say, right? This allows people to feel heard and to feel seen. And we all want that. And then after you summarize that, you also want to say, Did I miss anything? And that gives them an A chance to elaborate or clarify, then you want to actually follow up with another question and you ask them, What do you need? What are the tangible and intangible needs? And it might even be helpful to ask them, what would this look like if you had these needs met? Right? Because then, then the person might even recognize that they didn't need that, or they want something different? And then you would ask them, What are your concerns and asking for more, this is where the fear might come in. Or they recognize that there are parts of this role or parts of this opportunity, that aren't quite aligned. And then you would ask them, okay, so now that you've gotten clear, what's the next step? And as a coach, you always want to hold that person accountable to the next step. So you might say, how do we check in about this next step? Right? Okay. So that's the coaching framework. And again, this can be applied to yourself, or to someone in your life. And then the next thing that is really going to be helpful for you, if you're exploring a new role is to understand what you can negotiate for in the interview. Ultimately, your satisfaction hinges less on getting the negotiation right and more on getting the job, right. So you want to really understand for who are your teammates? Who's your boss? What's the work life balance look like? How is this going to be a full guest for you? So here's some things that you can negotiate for. So you want to ask about the remote policy in this company. And you heard Samina and I talked about that, you want to ask about whether there's bonus pay and equity. You want to know if there's matching money. So for example, maybe you've worked in other roles where you are accustomed to a 12% match, what is the match in this iteration? You want to know what the vacation policy is? Is it three to four weeks? Can it be reevaluated after the first week of service? Do you have the option to do any side work? If that's a passion, like maybe you have a podcast that you want to have outside of this scope and responsibility? You might want to ask for that. If you need to be in an office or in the same time zone? Do they offer relocation pay? If professional development is important to you probably is especially if you're listening to this podcast, then how do they support you in your personal and professional development? What is the stipend for that? Is there a certification that you want or a conference that you'd really love to go to every year? Ask for all of us upfront? What's the health insurance coverage? Ask about travel, if you have to travel for work, whether it's domestically or internationally. We all know travel takes a toll on the body, mind and soul. So perhaps there's a negotiation upfront where you can say if I'm traveling to a different timezone or internationally, Can I tag on a couple of days where I can actually enjoy the city before I have to rush right back? Right? Find out if there are any partial clauses for times of separation, where it is not your fault for the reason that they're having to let people go as mean and I were talking about earlier in the interview. And then you might also want to ask if there might be a retention bonus after the first year. And one of the questions I also really love to ask is how will I know that I'm being successful in this role, and that's not necessarily negotiation, but it is in a certain sense of what is expected of me in the first month in the first 60 days, 90 days, like really getting clear on that with the hiring manager with the senior people leaders. The other thing that's a negotiation, qualifier for me is how much sponsorship are you getting from the senior people leaders because that's going to allow you to actually have more influence and be more successful. Okay, those are some of the things that I think will be really helpful for you in navigating, asking for more. So how are you going to ask for more whether it's at work, or it's at home? If you enjoyed this episode, please give me a five star review, share it with friends, family or colleagues on LinkedIn. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. I have some incredible interviews coming on in the podcast in 2023. So make sure you subscribe. And thank you so much for tuning in.

67. 5 Days to Live and Die with Michael Hebb

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2023 77:43

This SHINE podcast episode is on how by facing and preparing for death, we are able to live more meaningful and purposeful lives. We all are born and we all will die. In this interview, we speak about how to talk about death as a way to foster deeper connection, healing, and growth at work, in our communities, and at home. We address the importance of bringing awareness and meditation practices to grieve effectively. Lastly, we talk about how bringing generations together over dinner can support us to solve some of the larger problems at work and in the world. This inspiring episode will support you to live a more meaningful life with less regrets. Episode Links: Compassion & Choices Death over Dinner What happens when death is what is for dinner? Ted Talk Reef Grief Article & coping resources Is this how you feel? Website formed to name and witness grief in community Book of Regrets SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social: LinkedIn IG Website Shine Podcast Page Imperfect Shownotes Hi, welcome to the shine podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I'm your host, this is the fifth season of the shine podcast. I started the shine podcast as a way of doing research for my book on conscious leadership in business. And you will find interviews with scientists, researchers and business leaders on the intersection of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. My book debuted in 2021 Shine ignite your inner game of conscious leadership and was voted one of the best books to read in 2022. By mindful magazine, I facilitate two episodes a month of the shine podcast. And before I tell you about the topic for today, please go over to Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast carrier and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes. The focus of this season is on the essentials for wellbeing. And that encompasses the intersection of our personal well being the collective well being of our workplace, and how that fosters and nurtures the planet's well being they are all connected. I focus on well being this season, because I really want to crack the code and inspire folks to prioritize their individual well being and therefore that will transcend into the collective and the planet's well being. And I have developed a inner game leadership assessment that I gave out to 100 different leaders last year. And the leadership assessment is based on the framework of the inner game, which is what we're cultivating on the inside to be conscious leaders. And it shows up on the outside when we cultivated the certain qualities. And two of the nine leadership competencies that were lowest from the sample of 100 leaders were psychological and physical well being. Therefore, that is why we are focusing on well being and if you're curious about where your strengths and gaps are around the qualities to become a conscious leader, you can take the assessment and find out your score for free. I recently opened to the assessment tool to the public, and the link will be in the show notes. Now onto our episode. Hello shine podcast listeners. I am here with my new friend Michael Michael HEB, who is the founder of death over dinner, drugs over dinner, and generations over dinner. He currently serves as a board advisor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, and is the primary editor of COVID paper. His second book, let's talk about death was published by Hashem in the US, UK and Australia in October of 2018. and Russia, China, Taiwan, Indonesian, Poland and Romania in the fall of 2019, and will soon be published in Finland. Wow. That's incredible. Michael, so happy to have you here. Oh, my goodness, this conversation is going to be amazing. Can't wait. Thanks for being here. Of course, credit. Thanks for having me. So to start off in the deep end, which I know you and I swimmin. Often, I'd love if you could share some of your childhood story of losing your father to dementia, and how that experience inspired a movement to support millions in gathering and holding space as we prepare for death. Yeah, well, when I was in second grade, I didn't know that it would inspire valiance. For one, I was very much you know, just a regular seven year old, seven year old, eight year old and my father was quite a bit older than most fathers. He was born in 1904 in the Yukon Gold Rush in a minor shed and Dawson during the the like epicenter of the Yukon Gold Rush. And so he was 72 years old when I was born, which is becoming less and less unique. I think we just found out Al Pacino is going to have another child, but at at something, but back then this was quite a surprising thing. And I think it's a kind of an amazing thing in a challenging thing to be sold and to have a child because you don't know how long you're going to be around for them. But I was a bit of a surprise. And in second grade, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, full blown Alzheimer's, it wasn't early onset, his symptoms were severe at that point, and then was put into a, a nursing home. And those were really rough years, my mother was not resourced to know how to manage our lives. Very few would be, and we lived in a great deal of chaos. And he died when I was 13. On on Halloween, actually. And our family didn't know how to talk about his illness, didn't know how to talk about his inevitable death, didn't know how to talk about our grief. And so we started really avoiding each other, which in many way was was the healthiest thing we could do. Because when you have a secret or a traumatic centerpiece to your family relationship, every time you're around those family members, there's cortisol and all kinds of things flooding your system. And so we really grew apart pretty quickly. And it had a lot of impact on the family structure where you know, much later and we'll talk about death over dinner, it served as the inspiration for inspiring people to talk about death, mortality, life limiting illness, dementia, because I didn't want anybody else to have to go through what I experienced the type of alienation, isolation, depression, confusion, anger, and the whole rainbow of emotion that I had to go through, basically alone until many mentors started to show up in my life. But the the death itself on Halloween was, was a seismic event in my life, and not for the reasons you might think. The grief wasn't overwhelming immediately, there was a kind of void that I felt when I woke up the morning and Halloween, and I knew that he died even though there was no one telling me so there's just a known sense, I'd actually had the previous night woken up at 3:43am, the exact moment that his heart stopped without knowing why. And then when I woke up again, later on that day, I was very clear, like, my dad's died, and I ended up going to school, because I wasn't going to just hang out with my mom and my brother. That didn't seem like a good place to go, or to be. And so I went to school on Halloween and Halloween when you're 13 is a big deal. And I ended up going out with friends that night, I didn't tell a single person that day that my father had died. And looking back on it, I think that was a pretty smart strategy. The realization that I had either consciously or just knew in my bones, at that time was my friend group didn't have the ability to deal with the weight of that kind of information. Kids are much more emotionally intelligent these days than they were 30 some years ago. And so I went out with my friends on Halloween night and did the type of things that 13 year olds do. I think we TPT some houses and eggs, some cars and drink some and essentially were assholes. And this thing happened to me because I was holding this whole new reality that my my dad had died, which no one I knew could relate to. And looking around my friends and what we were involved in the way we related to each other, and really just the world. I had this sense of being separate from it and watching it almost film nicly seeing these things from a from a removed space and questioning. If we act like this, why do we relate to each other? Why is there conversation about meaning? Shit, I hope I can swear on your ad snapped to, I can totally be yourself. Yeah,apparently it's a sign of intelligence, I just read a recent report. But nonetheless, I felt separate from my social group. And in in that separation, I started to ask really big questions. And that is really where my spirituality took shape was in those questions, and their questions about what are we doing here? Is there something more than this? Is there a right way to live? Have people known about living connected to something larger than the cell in the past, and took a great deal of interest in poetry and Eastern spirituality and mysticism? Gnosticism a long list of question askers. And that really set me on a completely different course than I would have been happily skipping down. So really, really a big change for not not exactly the reasons you would expect, when you use the term seismic, you know, change? And I would say yes, for sure. And, you know, before this conversation, I did a lot of research and trying to get to know you, and different interviews and things that you have recorded. And I learned about your early meditation practice, and part of how that came to be. And I was touched, because we both started meditating, and really having these deeper questions and interest around the same time, even though I, I imagine we're probably a similar age. And I also grew up in a family where, and still have a family where I'm keenly sensitive to emotions of myself and others, and the planet, and my, you know, nuclear family is not. And in some ways, I felt like an alien. And really kind of stuffed those for a long time, but had to find other ways and other tools to really understand myself and similar to you, like, understand, why am I here? And you know, what is the reason that I am being called to be here at this time. And, you know, when we, when we think about meditation and Buddhism, Siddhartha had a very similar journey, right? He was he was living in this, you know, Castle, not no suffering, really, except that is that his mother passed at an early age. But then he went outside of the palace walls one day and saw the four heavenly messengers, you probably familiar of this, of this table, or fable, rather, one was a sick person, an old man, a corpse, and aesthetic. And so he went on, you know, the aesthetic path to try to understand why these things happen. But we all know that we're gonna die, like every single one of us is going to die. And we don't know when that is going to happen. And so I wanted to bring you on because of a lot of his own inquiry around death for myself, but also, how do we use death, knowing it's coming, knowing that in some ways, humanity is facing very grave ecological death, which we'll go into a little bit later, to live the most meaningful life that we can right now? Yeah, well, I mean, in many ways, we can unlock what our life's meaning is, without that kind of rupture, without facing our mortality. And for most people, it happens in the middle of their life. This is you know, what Richard Rohr calls the second half of life and talks about and falling upward. And that that is just kind of naturally an age where people that are meaningful to us start dying. Right, some of us are, you know, gifted or cursed with a meaningful death. early in life, if you don't embrace it, or let it embrace you or if you repress it, or run away from it, then it can be a curse. But if you do the hard work of facing, whether that's when you're 13, or 30, or 40, or 50, or 60, or 70. The gifts that you get are really the answers to why I'm here. It's it's in many ways, the strongest medicine there is and there's a lot of talk these days and a lot of experience around psychedelic medicine, for instance, many of your users or, or listeners are experienced or curious. almost everybody's read Michael Pollan's book, how to change your mind, it seems. And we talk about the strength of that medicine, right, because it allows us to connect to something larger than ourselves connect to our, our history, our traumas, some of these big questions we find in a lot of psychedelic plant medicines, experiences that are held in the right container. Death, it's arguably more powerful, a medicine, and it's sitting right here. Yeah, right beside us, whether we acknowledge it or not. And, and it's a little bit easier to integrate, quite frankly, and then a psychedelic experience. And, you know, a lot of those medicines, actually kind of the core thinking around those medicines is they give us the ability to die before we die, so that we don't have to die when we die. And this is the this was the reason that people went to Eleusis, the mysteries in in, in Greece for 2000 years, 30,000 people a year, would go to a Lusas, to drink BurgerTime beer, to have an experience where a part of themselves would die. So that they realized that life, what was important about life, what the meaning was, what they were doing there. And you know that that experience is available to all of us by turning and facing or grief or any number of things. I agree. And I you know, just to circle back to meditation. Gosh, there's so many, there's so many ways that we could go because I love to have the plant medicine discussion with you as well. And I, I believe you're very right. I think a lot of people in some ways are actually just using the medicine to escape again. And they're not actually integrating. I mean, you're finding this altered state of consciousness, which, frankly, you can find meditating. And I've done both. And there's not a lot of difference for me personally. And only the medicine just brings me to that point faster. But I've done years and years and years of silent meditation. And one of the things that I'm so grateful about meditation is that Vipassana, which is coming from the Tera Vaada. And Buddhist tradition, actually learned this several years ago, on a silent retreat at Spirit Rock meditation center, it means to grieve effectively, because every moment is passing this moment right now, between you and I will never happen again, quite like this, ever. And so I'm present to it. And there's a loss and that, here it goes. Yeah, letting it go. Yeah, sometimes we have to be well, I think we do have to build be able to face the big D, yes, the two really come to terms with the small D's that we face all of the time, and not grasp on to that which is constantly changing, right? Because that's what people's primarily, their primary complaints are really around the small days, you know, anxiety, depression, all of these things have that we suffer from on a regular basis have so much to do with dealing with the fact that things are constantly changing. Right? Right. Yeah. Yeah. And how do we how do we practice getting, you know, little and, and to be in flow with a world that is constantly changing? Right? And so that's why I told tell people and teach people that, you know, death is this really powerful medicine because one, you, you do want to drink from that cup, you, you will be facing the big D at some point. And you want to be present to that. And you want to be able to learn from the experience as the aperture of your life gets smaller and smaller. There's a lot of great richness in that I've seen people complete a whole hero's journey in their last hour on this planet and change things generationally, and do healing for people who, you know, their future ancestors, they'll never meet on death's door. Right? But not if we're grasping. Not if we haven't surrendered, not if we're not present to it. And in the present moment, same thing. We're not going to be able to have an access to the beauty of the moment, or whatever it is. It's not just beauty, the is of the moment if grasping, flailing, reacting struggling in fight or flight or freeze, unless we have some sort of practice round. I mean, some of my good friends started the flow Institute's flow Institute, Steven Kotler, and Jamie Weil. And there's a lot of talk about flow these days and to be in flow. And I give those guys a hard time. It's like you're teaching people all of these great techniques, but the most important technique you could be teaching it was to deal with death and go, yeah, and they've incorporated some of that. And we actually hosted the first flow Institute, gathering together years before their other best seller. So there's just a lot there. And it's scary for people. This isn't, I'm not saying this with the idea that you shouldn't have apprehension or that it's easy. But there have been a lot of people who looked at our impermanence, looked at death, looked at grief, and have lit those canyons, and lit those dark forests for us. So you're, you're not alone. And you will get immediate vitality, from the work that people do around this. And I know you work with leaders and, you know, one of one of the kind of most ironic slash funniest uses of death over dinner, which is a initiative I started to get people to talk about end of life and, you know, millions of people have taken part in this. I was gonna ask you about that. Yeah. If we'll come back to continue. Yeah, I'll give. I'll let you lead me into some framing but Deloitte, Europe, one of the leading firms, when it comes to giving advice and creating strategy for the biggest brands in the world, most people know Deloitte. Yes, started using Deloitte, Europe started using depth over dinner at the beginning of their, their corporate retreats for their big clients. And yeah, and found and people were able to have conversations about what do they want to be remembered for? What do they want to have happen to their body? You know, song would be one at their funeral. If they had 30 days left to live, what would they do with it? How would they feel that that unlocks so much connection between the people that were there and humanity, way below the watermark of their strategy, or with you know, their brand, and it also unlocked a tremendous amount of creativity? Right? People feel free to try out new ideas and to play with each other's ideas. So, you know, there's there's a lot, there's a lot there in this space that has big No Trespassing signs all over it for us. Thank you. Well, there's a couple of questions that I have that are bubbling. I mean, first, I'd love to hear well, and even before I, I asked you a question, just my responses, you know, in my experience, working with lots of different, you know, senior people, leaders and stakeholders and various companies, business is only as good as the relationships that people are forming. If there isn't psychological safety, trust, the ability to believe that this person has my back, and we are connected and we are connected towards something of greater purpose, people will not stay, they will not perform, they will not feel they belong, and they will not bring their best to work or that workplace. That has been my experience. And so, I think what we are craving most, and especially since the pandemic is connection, is meaning is purpose, and how do we build that together and then align, you know, in powerful actions together. And I just think that is that is what is happening in the workplace. There is a death of the old workplace that was profit above everything else, thank goodness, but it's slow. It's slow. There's there's still a certain you know, group of leaders that are holding on to that. Lynne twist has been a huge mentor to me and wrote the foreword of my book and I remember when I first heard her speak years ago, she said we are hospice sing out. You know, these Oh, have systems and structures that will not support the new world. Because we have to embrace that, or we don't have a path forward. And so I, I'm excited for the death let it die. But let's hospice it out, right? Because then we can let go more effectively. Yeah, well, I mean, the pandemic, arguably, threw a wrench in some of that, at least from the human connection side. It gave us something that we have in common to connect around, it made grief public, that made mental health public, it made that those topics went from being taboo, which we can talk about the word taboo if we want, because it's a completely misunderstood word. But from things that were not appropriate conversations, to being very appropriate, very common conversation, especially in the millennial communities, some of us that are a little bit older, catching up with millennials and that ability to talk about things openly. But it also just, it did separate us. And it's hard to create deep connections in the workplace, when this is how we're connecting when it's just over zoom, or maybe not even zoom, it's just over email. I hope Len is right below her very much. If you're listening, Man, I miss you. Let's talk soon. And I do I do really have hope that that is the direction that we're going. Right now, this seems like we're going a lot of different directions. So where it's hard to know,it's a little chaotic, for sure. Well, I want to hear more about the process of death over dinner, so you can share with our listeners of how they can engage in that, I also wanted to speak to you about how you have understood the difference between for example, sadness, and grief. Because it's a felt experience. And, you know, there's, there's a lot of numbing, there's a lot of avoiding that. And I just think that in order to really be more comfortable in talking about our own death, we have to be willing to feel the grief. So So start with that, the movement of death over dinner, the process, I'm gonna leave links in the show notes. And I have gone through the process a couple times, a couple dinners, and also have a guess, some insights that are not around that, but just even just some of the my own practices around death that I might insert in in our conversation if we have time. I love it. Well, death over dinner came out of the well, at this point. It's over 20 years of convening people to talk about difficult topics at the dinner table. I realized pretty early on in my career as an architect my backgrounds actually in architecture, that I didn't need to build any new structures, I was building places for people to gather and connect. As an architect. That was the focus of my young career. And then I realized that the dinner table does that, with me needing to file a building permit or raise millions of dollars for said structure. We just forgotten how to use the dinner table. And needed to remember, we've remembered how, to some extent to garden and farm and put great food on the table thanks to Alice Waters in the slow food movement, all this incredible work that's been done on the front side. But very little has been done around what happens when they actually sit down with that beautiful food or have that famous chef cook for us. And so we don't have a virtuous cycle. Back to the table. We have it as a kind of fetishized entertainment, almost like a Martha Stewart shot something not a oh, I want to be there having that experience. How do I get back there that richness comes from people being vulnerable, sharing stories around their lives. And now we just talked about succession when we get to a dinner table or whatever people are watching on TV. Probably 75% of the dinner conversation is happening over tables and or we're not paying attention to the Food, you know, or being even mindful of our consumption. I started off in the corporate space, engaging people in meditation through mindful eating of chocolate. I did not do the raisin that was not going to get their attention. But I've I've always really loved just bringing people's attention. Yes to, to food to connection to our connection to food, and therefore the greater the greater world. Yeah, which is great work. But then we also have to connect with the people at the table. And that was the kind of soft architecture that I got really interested in, what is the history of it? What is the history of the Athenian symposium that brought together you know, Plato and Aristotle was the history of the Jewish Seder. What's the history of the Bloomsbury group? Gertrude Stein's tables, so the Black Panthers Sunday brunches, like, what what has been this role how people use this space, the dinner table, because we're drawn to it naturally. It's like the watering hole on the savanna, all different types. For food, we, we come and we get saved, save it, and then we go back to her our lives. If we were eating together, a lot of people don't eat together. But so I started doing dinners with incredible folks and Presidents and Nobel Prize winners and people that are living on the streets and people that are struggling with mental illness, and you name it, dinner after dinner after dinner in every country, or every continent, and so many places, so many just wild settings. It's hard to even think about, and I've had to forget many of them, because there's been too many, and having hard conversations like how do we end genocide? How do we enhance closeness? How do we end the gender gap? Then I realized that I wasn't going to be able to reach the number of people that I wanted to reach. And I also didn't want to just be working with leaders. I don't believe in a trickle down model. I believe in a grassroots model, I really even think change actually happens from the ground up. And so wanted to create a social ritual that people could enact, all over the world could scale and was free very much like the Jewish Seder, actually, the ER a Shabbat dinner, but with a little bit more of a program, a theme. And so death over dinner was our answer to that. I was working with some great designers and graduate students, I was teaching at the University of Washington, in the Graduate School of Communications and decided to teach a course entirely based around building a platform called death over dinner. And we did and now it's become this global phenomenon. And what it is, is, it's an invitation. First and foremost, we're talking about facing mortality, or death, grief and people Oh, that's great. And you say that there's ways into this, but how well, here's one. Like, we're gonna give people an invitation that isn't a thick book, it is a dinner party, and you liked dinner parties. And so here's the invitation, come to dinner and talk about death. And it can be because you're grieving, because you have a loved one who has a terminal diagnosis, it could be because you have early onset Alzheimer's, you don't know how to talk to your family about it, but it's gonna be more and more of us. And so we built this beautiful website and its limitation and then created scripts for people. So your intention, why you want to have the dinner, or the conversation, you select on the website, and then it auto generates the scripts and allows you to pick some homework based upon that intention. So very different scripts for somebody who's grieving versus somebody who's interested for spiritual or religious reasons in a conversation. And then people sit down, and they have this experience where they don't have to think about what are the questions, it's all laid out. And there's a ritual in the beginning and a ritual in the end, and it works. Good, give people some good food and some structure and have someone you know, kind of hold the space for it, lead it, you know, who is whoever is inviting the conversation? Yeah, it's, it's beautiful. And then I've only done three, you know, personally, and I, I actually invited my parents, maybe like two months ago, and they they turned me down. They said, No, we don't want to talk about this, because we have a lot of friends that are dying right now. And it was it was too much, but I am not giving up. Because I I just think it's so important to talk about. Yeah, I'll just leave it at Yeah. Well, I mean, let's talk about that. Because if If you are lining up and saying like, Oh, I want to do I want to have that conversation, if someone's listening to this podcast and be like, I'm interested in that, or if there's any like, no, no, no, you know, putting their fingers in their ears. We can talk to both of those people right now. So if you are excited about it, and you're saying, I want to have this conversation with my parents, my spouse, my best friends, my co workers, my kids, you are gonna get nose? Yep. You if you're excited about it, you are more excited about it than many of the people in your life, I promise you. And so here's the thing. The people in your life do want to talk about it. Yeah. But inviting them is tricky. can be tricky. It's not tricky. Some people are just gonna be like, hell yes. And I'm gonna bring all my friends too. And some people will be like, Hell, no, I'm never gonna have this conversation. But here's the thing. If we acted like, most people act, or at the end of life conversation, the death conversation, if we acted that way, like we do around love and work, we would never find love, and we would never have a job. So your parents said, No. But you know, how did you ask them? And you tried one way. And there are many different ways. And I think of it more of as a courtship. Right? Well, and and just just to share a little more, I sent that to them over email, as an initial conversation. I actually, at that time, was living in Costa Rica. And we hadn't had a deeper discussion, I had no idea that my father had a law school friend that was like literally going to be dying a week from that moment. So it was really bad timing on my end. And I went through a very deep process at the end of last year, where I spent five days in a very powerful workshop, really facing my death every single day. So it started on a Monday, anyone Friday was dying, like it was happening. And over the course of five days, I was being told you have four days to live, you have three days to live, you have two days to live, you have one day to live, you have 30 seconds to live, what are you going to do and I was buried, literally buried, I did write my eulogy. And I have been wearing a bracelet around my wrist, it's just a black thread. That reminds me, I'm gonna die. And it's been so powerful and so potent. And so you know, some of that experience I've been sharing with my parents. That's the courting I suppose. And I spent my birthday with them intentionally this year. But I haven't done in many, many years. And as part of my birthday dinner, I said, you don't know how I want to die. And I don't know how you want to die. And we have not talked about Advanced Directives. And I really want to know, so that I can honor your wishes. And my parents are probably going to hate that. I'm going to say this out loud. But they said we haven't even talked about it. We don't know. So at least I have started that inquiry. And I said, Well, I would like to be cremated. And this is where and I should probably put this in writing. Because I don't know when that is going to happen. And I want you to know. Yeah. So that's, that's, that's part of I think, what I have been dealing with it all. I'll just share one other piece of that. I want to bring it back to you, Michael. But I wasn't planning on sharing this. But it's so interesting. Yesterday, I was flying back to California from Florida from visiting my my family, my parents, and we were approaching Albuquerque. And they were crazy winds like the plane is rattling and it was just like it was it was crazy. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I have not reviewed the emergency protocol. Okay, the 510. Net didn't actually go through it at the beginning. Sometimes they do sometimes they don't. And I thought okay, what, what if you were to die right now? You know what that feels like? You have gone through the experience. And I just allowed myself to feel it. I was actually buried in the sand. I was I was in the sand. They left me there for an hour. And when they came to get me during this five days, I didn't want to come out Michael. I felt so at peace. I felt so held by the Earth just the weight of her on me. And so many people had very different experiences. They couldn't wait to get out. It scared the hell out of them. But I reminded myself of that embodied acts experience if if this were to happen, this is what you know, in your body that death is and it was, it was wonderful. I didn't have I didn't have fear and I was able to transport myself back in that place on the plane yesterday as it's rattling and shaking and Okay. Okay. And well, let's imagine your parents, yeah, that would have had very different experiences being buried for one, they wouldn't have gone to Costa Rica to die off and five days. But they have maybe like an anxious attachment relationship to it. Or an avoidant perhaps. And, you know, there are these, you know, we can take, we can use attachment styles for debt too. And going straight up to somebody who is so avoidant. And, you know, putting your finger right on the nose of it is going to be, you know, can can be a thing that has them seize up, right, of course, of course, you know, and this isn't just to you this is to people are listening, because you're not, you're no, I love, you're using this as a teachable moment. And frankly, I have not shared what I just shared with you, I think with only three people. But now here we go. Like, yes, it's been buried. But yes, there there is a there is avoidance, there is anxiety. And it's unknown, of course. Yeah. But there's a way in. So, you know, similarly with courtship, and with a job that you really want, you get creative. And you think about that person. Right? What what are they interested in? Does your mom love Tuesdays with maurey? Perhaps? No, didn't love the movie? Does you know, do they watch dramas that haven't includes our true crime? Or, you know, like, there's, there are ways in and a legacy legacy might be away? And what do you want to be remembered for? Let's get way out, you know, and what stories from your life, we want to make sure that your grandchildren know that that is a death conversation. There's a lot of things that yes, I agree, don't present as much as like, your advanced care directives, and what happens to your body when you die. Right there, there are things that are a little bit more adjacent, where people can open up and before you know it, you're gonna get all of their wishes. It's an unfurling. Because they've been, you know, we're in a society that denies it. And, and is obsessed with it. So we have an unnatural, we have this very unhealthy relationship to it, we're obsessed with that. Death is central to all the top TV shows, books, clickbait it's everywhere. But but our own is, is a real challenge for some people. And the other thing is we can experience it. Right? So it's one of those human experiences that we'll never have, why? Until we have it. And so, it's not something that we can imagine ourselves in. And we also think we're gonna have that other bias in our brain that has it that we're an exception to the rule. We all think we're an exception to the rule. Not gonna happen to me. Yeah. You know, that's just baked in. And so there's a lot but I love that you're trying, and I'm confident that you're gonna find I am pretty persistent. But yes, it's about right timing. And so I appreciate that you used my example as a teachable moment, but I there's so many different places we could go. I'd love to, you know, end on on two questions. One is, how have you maybe found the distinction within yourself but also happen to be in conversation with with folks around the difference between sadness and grief? Well, the thing is, grief is is not one thing. You know, sadness, it has a certain tonality to it. Grief is all of all of the colors all of the sounds of the emotions so you can be a grieving and being laughing. You can be ecstatic and grieving you can be grieving and be horny you can be grieving and be devastatingly depressed. You can be grieving and be inconsolable. You can And all of this is included in grief, grief is is not singular in that way. And, you know, sadness, I'm not an expert on sadness. I mean, then I'm Sam a little bit more expert on grief. And one of the things that I know to be true about grief is one, it's not linear. There, there are no stages. So many people think that Elisabeth Kubler Ross determined the five stages of grief, what Elisabeth Kubler Ross did was create the five stages that happen when we come to terms with our own death. That's what that is. That's what the stages of grief, as we call them, were originally written as she suggested that it might work for grief. And then she retracted it. Some people have taken her suggestion and made careers on it. And the culture has had a bonanza around this idea of grief, having five stages, it doesn't, it's for ever, grief doesn't go away doesn't mean that it's always awful. But the fact that the person is gone, and that whole, that shape of that person will always be in your heart. But the the way to heal that, if that's even the right word, or the way to orient around that is not to try to get back to normal. Or to forget about it or reintegrate into society. It's to honor them. It's called continuing bonds theory. And it's actually the healthy way of grieving. And a lot of countries do this very well, Mexico, India, Japan, where they elevate their relationship to the loved one as opposed to repress it. Right? This, this is going to be with you forever. Turn the beautiful part on and some of the sadness, sadness can be beautiful, poignant, leads to some amazing things inspires us to get in motion sometimes, but elevate that person in your life, build an altar, have some remembrance, turn their body, you know, their cremated remains into things like parting stone or a diamond or have some way where they live in your everyday life is the is the way forward with grief, even though we talk about it in such unhelpful ways. Thank you. Well, and I and my experience with any feeling, you know, the more that we witnessed it, and we witnessed it in community or even with one other person, and in some ways, we're shining the light on it. And it has that opportunity to heal and transform. And that's I think some of what you're doing with this conversation is we're taking it out of the ground, so to speak. We're giving it life and a chance for people to talk about it and therefore grieve together and heal together. Right. And you know, this idea of the word taboo, we'll just talk briefly because I think you have one last question. But taboo is not doesn't mean forbidden. What it actually it's a comes from a Polynesian term, taboo, Tipu. And what that that was referred to places that were sacred places that you have to like, we know for some reason, we know that a burial ground and you know, an Indian or Native American or indigenous burial ground, that we know, for some reason is taboo. Why do we know that? Because that's actually true. It's a sacred place. That's one of the things that was identified as taboo or taboo is a holy place, a sacred place where we actually have to cleanse ourselves or prepare ourselves or being a different state of mind, to go into that space. And that's a rich and meaningful space. Taboo is actually an invitation. It's an invitation and but it's not the regular Friday, your regular Tuesday, it is, I'm going to do I'm going to prepare myself when people go into a mosque, they cleanse themselves. You know, there is there's something about this, that we've forgotten that, yes, we can talk about the hardest things we can talk about trauma. We can talk about sex, we can talk about, you know, history of abuse, we can talk about anything gender, politics, we you name it, if we prepare ourselves properly, and create the right container. There's nothing that's off limits. It's when we don't take the care to do that, that we run into difficulty I agree. Thank you. So in the topic of death and grief, and this is something that has taken a lot of my heart and mind space and continues to. And I think I'm not alone in this, you know, what's happening with our planet, and the extinction of species, and all of the reports that have been coming in for a long time around what is happening with the warming of our planet, and especially the most recent reports, there is an ecological death that is happening. And I think that it is overwhelming for many people to even really look at and feel, feel the grief around the species that are gone for good, and that will be gone. But also, I don't feel like we're prepared with the skills and the resources to navigate what is coming with the fires, with the migration that is going to be happening across our world of people of beings. And I just feel curious, does ecological death or grief come up at all, in these death over dinner conversations? And how can we inspire people to start talking about it, and prepare, skillfully to talk about it? Because we need to talk about it? Because we can't avoid it? It's here. Yeah, and, you know, I think one of the things that we do is weaponize our own grief around this our own urgency as opposed to create space for people to that's inviting to be able to have their own experience of grief around the natural world. Right? A lot of us have had that experience. And we've been we can't believe that others haven't, you know, has woken up to it. Right? Wake up and notice. Wake up and notice is not how I want to be woken up. That doesn't work. I try I have a 14 year old if I come in and shake her or throw water on her or tell her all of the things that she hasn't done or shouldn't be doing. No, that's not how we want to wake somebody up to this. You know, a good morning, I love you. You know, can I? Can I get your coffee? Would you want toast? Or do you want a croissant? Do you want fruit for breakfast? Right? Like, this morning, I gave her some of those choices. She was so touched, she was like, I would love a coffee. She didn't even drink it. But justit's through love. Of course, you're loving, it's tender. And a gentle is about creating space. If you do want people to start to see the world in some way that resembles your way of seeing. Right? One you don't know if they're gonna have the same experience and come to the same conclusions. But until you invite somebody in to look at it themselves and feel it. You've already told them that they're not allowed unless they have a certain set of experiences generally are a certain kind of fire under them to make change is the only way you can be a ticket holder into this conversation. Right this. So you know, there's an incredible book called The Persuaders that just came out. And now Anons going to destroy his last name that is about the right and the left, and how we need more on ramps into these these movements. And I highly recommend that to anybody. But I would also put a little little plug that in my book, I have also created some practices for how to navigate the deep grief and feelings around this. And also, you know, I started experimenting with this practice many years ago when I was teaching at Stanford and I'd, I'd bring the students out into the grass. And I'd ask them to tell me what they loved most about nature, and what they really got from nature. And from that love. What are we willing to fight for? Right? What just like anything, you know, like our family, our friends, if we love something enough, we care for it. We want to protect it and I think that that is I believe the most palpable way into the conversation and to feel the heartbreak around what's happening and you know, a lot of it we have caused, and then we have a choice of what actions we're going to take because pa I couldn't believe we can we can reverse it right? There's there's 100 ways to reverse this. But it requires a certain level of activation of all of us. Yeah. And then, you know, we did create a dinner model called Earth to dinner, which was in partnership with the Paris accord. And the earth in Paris movement in the UN was one of our partners, and we got 1000s of people to have conversations about climate change. But I'll leave you with one story. Because it's, it hasn't asked Yeah, what what evolved from that? Yes. But feel free to feel free to leave the story as well.Yeah, I mean, that. That was, it was incredibly powerful. And I got to work with Jack Black, which was fun. And one of those famous like internet famous cats, I can't remember his name. But nonetheless, the, the story I'll leave you with around it, because I still think it should happen. And I was in Iceland, and got inspired by the glacial melt in Iceland. And, you know, the fact that we are, we're very action oriented, when it comes to those people that are working on climate change, action is really the currency. And I realized that there's a step before action, which is great that we're missing. And so started working on a project to build a table out of the glacier and got, like, the leading ice sculptor in Iceland, to we went out into tests and took, can we cut a table out of the glacier. And then we have the arc at angles, one of the leading sustainable architects in the world cetera to design the table. So the arc angles, gonna design the table, and then how we were started to form this dinner around it. And Bjork said yes, and Sigur Ros was coming. And the president of Iceland was involved. And all of this was happening. And the idea was, okay, we're going to build this table out of ice, and we're going to have a dinner on it that we're going to film and then leave it for people to come visit it while it melts. But the dinner itself was called the goodbye glacier dinner. And the idea very simply was, you know, let's read this together. Let's talk about a world without ice and how that makes us feel. Let's talk a world of burial without glacier. Let's talk about the sixth extinction, that we're in the middle of let's have these conversations from what are we going to miss? How is that going to feel? Which is something that's not politicized? Alright, that's just like, how's it gonna feel? No, full stop. Not now, I want you to make sure you recycle. And you can't wear those, you know, you can't wear fur, or you can't do this, or you can't eat this, or there's no need for you know, let's just grieve. And so and then unfortunately, the idea was so popular that a friend of mine decided to build a whole festival around this and a thought leadership festival. And it got way too big and fancy. And then the whole thing exploded. But the the reason we were doing it in the first place was the goodbye glacier dinner, and the goodbye glacier table. And so it still hasn't happened. And maybe somebody is listening. Maybe someone will listen and they'll say, let's start. Yeah, I love it. Okay, if you want to do it, I'm up for it. Michael's up for reach out. That was your story. Beautiful. Well, I know you have as I shared at the beginning of introducing you, you have a couple other movements, generations over dinner, and that feels like a wonderful opportunity for people of all different ages to come together towards talking about some of these big conversations that were hospice sing out to create something new. Yeah. So yeah, generations over dinner, I'll just be briefly partnership with Chip Conley, Chip Conley, the founder of modern elder Academy, and I'm sure he's been talked about maybe he's been on this podcast he has and chip has a new book, and he's going to be on it again. So I am very inspired by Chip and his work at modern elder Academy and the emphasis on intergenerational wisdom sharing. Yes, this idea that a modern elder is as as curious as they are wise. And that it is about sharing, as as well as being you know, just that curiosity, that desire to learn. And that's the hallmark of what we need an elders right now. We're also age, we have an age apartheid, if you will. Don't know if we can Bandy around the term apartheid. So I apologize if that's offensive. But we have a divisiveness and separation around age we do not know, people of different ages, generally speaking, we are not age diverse, in our country are really very much around the world is one of those American ideas that has been exported, to really just spend your time around people same age and not live with people of different ages, etc. And so we decided to create another social ritual that is generations over dinner. And that's a challenge to see how many generations you can get at a dinner table. And these dinners are happening all over the world as well, there have been already to seven generation dinners, not of the same family, but the generations like boomers, greatest silent millennia, we've gotten all seven living at tables, or people have I haven't even done it, people got inspired by it. And they're like, we'll do it. And two of those dinners, one in Australia, one in the US have happened. And they're these dinners happening of work, mentioned that there were a lot of enterprise or workplace has the most intergenerational opportunity, for sure. Right. And, in many ways, the most generational division. So Chevron, Uber and LinkedIn are three companies that have taken on generation over dinner and are using it at scale. But the project that I'm most excited about you, we talk to you most excited about, and it's like, I get pretty excited about death, obviously. But this work with generations that we're doing in senior living, uh huh. The most the thing I'm most excited about. So there's, I don't know the percentage, there's a lot of us that are in senior living, and a lot of people that we love. And I had this realization one day that senior living, whether that's assisted care, independent living, etc, represents the largest and most concentrated reservoir of wisdom on the planet. And it's just sitting there and we are not tapping it. And we are not in conversation with it. And, you know, my mom, neighbor, and her senior living establishment is former governor Barbara Roberts, the first female governor of Oregon, who's unbelievable human being, no one goes to see her her family does, but she should, she would mentor people all day. And so we started working with senior living and was like, Sure if if we bring you generations over dinner, and also bring you the young people or you just open your doors to young young folks or people in the middle age one, you'll get more people who want to live in or work in senior living. But the loneliness epidemic that's happening at the oldest and the youngest, can be cured. And so now we're in like, 1000, Senior Living. Oh, I love hearing that. Well, my parents live and Valencia lakes, which is in Sun City, Florida, which is a quite a large 55 and older retirement village. And I was just spending a lengthy visit with them. And one of the things and I'm, I've always been an old soul, I have always had people in their 60s. In my life, I'm I'm in my early 40s. But I would go to the fitness center, this is just kind of a fun story. And I'd have lots of folks that I would just interact with, and they would just want to come up and give me wisdom. I saw a little lady, you know, like, like this, this man that was 90, which I wouldn't have known. He's like, don't stop moving. Like, okay, I'm not planning on it. And then this, this other man who was 66. But I want to respect their desire to share and it was it's beautiful, but you can't really get a workout in. But I love that. I love that, Michael, this conversation has been so meaningful. I just really appreciate how you have just started the conversation literally in so many important areas and your service. And I hope that we will be able to continue to converse, and I'm just very passionate about helping you amplify all these incredible movements. So thank you know, thanks for having me. And to those listening out there. It's all available. It's all free. Kind of never charged for any of these initiatives. So grab them, enjoy if death isn't the topic or psychedelic drugs had the topic that you're interested in generations over dinner is kind of for everybody. It is and all these links will be in the show. My notes, and Michael is also on LinkedIn. And he's got a website. And he's got a fabulous TED Talk. So all these all these links will be in the show notes, Michael, thank you again. Thanks so much talk soon. Hey, folks, thanks so much for listening to this wonderful conversation with Michael and I are on the intersection of grief and death. And therefore, how we want to fully live our lives. I wanted to share a few more thoughts and prompts, and resources, so that you could engage in this deeper inquiry around life and death for yourself when you're ready. And I'll start off with this, there is always a cycle of birth and death, and all things it's part of life. And nothing endures but change. And accepting this reality has the potential to transform the dread of dying into joyful living. I started working with cancer patients in my early 20s. And it informed me at an early age on the preciousness of life, I'd also had a meditation practice for probably a couple years before that journey of working with cancer patients. So I was already informed on how important being here for the present moment is. And I saw a lot of the patients that I was serving go through incredible changes when they knew they were about to die. I also saw some people that didn't have a chance to really pivot and had regrets on their deathbed. And last year, I knew that I needed a deeper reset for myself. And I took about 10 weeks sabbatical in Costa Rica, which is a place I've been going to for about 10 years. And I spent the first month in silence. And I have spent a lot of my life in the last 1314 years in silence. So I'd been getting myself ready to take a month, in some ways, because I had taken two to three weeks a year for many years. And it was incredibly nourishing for myself. And after I came out of silence, I prepared to die. Essentially, I had already decided to do a workshop with a teacher and a guide that I respected. And I shared a little bit about my experience with Michael, in the interview that you just listened to. But I had five days to live and die. And there were lots of very potent exercises that I did in preparation. And it was a real embodied experience. So much so that at the very end of the week, I was buried. And it gave me a lot to think about on how I wanted to live my life and what had the most urgency right now. And what came through were some really life changing insights. And I have as much as I can really try to orient my life around those insights into actions. And so one of the biggest aha was for me, when I knew I was about to die was I needed to invest in home, I needed to have a place to die. That was a place I felt safe, where I had loved ones where I had community where I deep roots. And I didn't have that. And I am cultivating that now I lived in the Bay Area for a lot of my adult life and because of how expensive it is, and because of some of what I chose to do during those many years, I couldn't invest in a property. And I frankly put the work of helping clients and companies above my own well being and my own happiness. And I wrote a book for almost four years. So there was a way that I was sacrificing my self in support of a purpose that I believed was more important. And that has really shifted I am no longer willing to make those same types of sacrifices for for the rest of my life. Because life is short, isn't it? And I think many people have been going through those same kinds of changes and acknowledgments over the past couple of years with the pandemic. And so as a result of facing my own death, I put some actions in place So that might be inspiring for you to hear. So I chose to spend three weeks with my parents in May, to nurture more connection really have meaningful time with them in these years where they're still healthy and able, and a lot of my life I have lived in California, and my family's in Florida, and it was incredibly sweet and tender. And I'm so grateful for it. And I hope that we will all have more time like that to connect, and get to know one another. There are ways that I know my parents now that I didn't know when I was a teenager, or even in my early 20s. And I think there are ways that they're getting to know me, as well. I have also recently moved to a community where I am really excited to invest more time and energy, in community in play in friendship, and belonging. And I'm holding greater boundaries around what is my right work, and what do I need that supports me to do that right work in a way that is balanced. So these are just some of some of the things that I have been putting into play. And frankly, one of the things that is also driving this greater motivation is that based on the warming that is occurring in the planet, and not knowing what is going to happen with our planet, and not really knowing how humanity is going to show up in this time, I know it's going to be hot, how hot it's going to be is up to us. And based on that there will be more adaptations, there will be more floods and fires and smoke and scarcity of water and resources. And therefore, in order to really enjoy my life, in addition to the My deeper purpose, to help solve some of these big problems we have created. I don't want to miss out on the beauty that is here. Speaking of the intersection of grief, and ecological death, I wanted to share with you some practices that I wrote about in my book that I think will be really helpful for you, if you like me, are also looking for those tools and resources to help you navigate what is here, what is coming. And so in chapter nine of my book, there is a practice. There's a couple practices actually one of them is turning emotional upset into inspired action. And I do believe that by having greater emotional resilience, we will have greater climate resilience. So allow yourself to just listen in to this excerpt from my book. I presented at Planet home in 2019, which is a gathering of changemakers scientists, Hollywood activists and musicians who are bringing greater awareness to climate problems as well as their solutions. During planet home, I led the participants of my workshop through a hike in nature in the Presidio of San Francisco. I invited those on the hike to notice what they love about Nietzsche, and based on that love what feelings arose when they thought about the Amazon burning, the glaciers melting, and the massive amounts of species dying every day. People shared deep grief, anger, fear, uncertainty and hope. Embracing the discomfort allows us to inform ourselves about how we want to act in service of the earth. So hearing that, I invite you to go out in nature once a week, and walk barefoot on the ground. Listen to the earth. Allow yourself to feel the nourishment from your connection to nature. And notice your love and appreciation of your surroundings. Let yourself feel all the feelings that arise about the destruction of our planet. And if the feelings are too much to bear, drop down to the earth with your hands and knees and let the earth hold some of your fear grief and rage. Yell if you have to let the emotions release from your body. You don't need to hold them in. From a deep place of feeling. Ask yourself how do I want to show up in service of To the earth, and then whatever answer arises, follow it. This will help you to stand in your commitment to be a good steward of this planet. And a couple of prompts for you, in addition to that practice before we end. When we think about using death as a catalyst to live a more meaningful life, there is another book that could also be helpful for you. There's so many, but this one came to mind. So Daniel Pink, an author that I respect, wrote a book about regrets. And he spoke about the five most common regrets that people had in life. So here they are, one, I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me to. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. Three, I wish I had the courage to express my feelings. For I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends, five, I wish that I had allowed myself to be happier. So in thinking about this conversation, what you've heard for me from Michael, if you're curious how you will start your journey to use death as a way to live a more meaningful and purposeful life. If you enjoyed this episode, please give me a five star review helps so much and then other folks can find the shine podcast, share with friends, family colleagues on LinkedIn, we are all in this together and sharing is caring. Are you seeking a catalyst to increase trust in your team upskill your leadership create a flourishing culture. I am your person. These are my areas of genius. And I love solving problems creating strategy, enrolling stakeholders related to these topics. And I've had incredible results with amazing companies. Reach out to me on LinkedIn, and book a consultation. I would love to help. I have some incredible interviews coming in the rest of this podcast season so make sure you subscribe to the shine podcast. Additionally, there's a lot of resources in the show notes around some of the pieces that Michael and I spoke about. Thanks so much for listening. And until we meet again, be the light and shine the light

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66. We are Water Protectors with Carley Hauck and Greg Koch

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2023 80:11

This SHINE podcast episode is on the importance that water plays in all of our lives. Water is a fundamental resource and life. In this interview, we will speak about why water stewardship is important. We will address three significant challenges in the quality of water on the planet: Red Tide, Microplastics and PFAs. We speak about how these 3 are interconnected, the dangers of them to our well being, and action steps you can take to reverse the negative impacts at an individual and business level. This inspiring episode will ignite greater purpose and inspiration to be a water protector. Episode Links: Greg Koch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkochsustainability/ Greg Kochs Book SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — leadfromlight.net Carley Links: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ Consultation Call with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/SHINEbook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Environmentally Friendly Products for Water Protection Grove Collaborative Red tide Everything you wanted to know about Red Tide- Scripps Edu Red Tide Affects in Tampa/St Pete Area PFAS CDC Fact Sheet Dark Waters- Documentary on PFAS How Dupont may avoid paying to clean up toxic forever chemicals Microplastics https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01143-3 Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Inner Game Leadership Assessment- https://tinyurl.com/igniteyourinnergame Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast Imperfect Shownotes: Carley Hauck 0:08 Hi, welcome to the shine podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I'm your host, this is the fifth season of the shine podcast. I started the shine podcast as a way of doing research for my book on conscious leadership in business. And you will find interviews with scientists, researchers and business leaders on the intersection of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. My book debuted in 2021 Shine ignite your inner game of conscious leadership and was voted one of the best books to read in 2022. By mindful magazine, I facilitate two episodes a month of the shine podcast. And before I tell you about the topic for today, please go over to Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast carrier and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes. The focus of this season is on the essentials for wellbeing. And that encompasses the intersection of our personal well being the collective well being of our workplace, and how that fosters and nurtures the planet's well being they are all connected. I focus on well being this season, because I really want to crack the code and inspire folks to prioritize their individual well being and therefore that will transcend into the collective and the planet's well being. And I have developed a inner game leadership assessment that I gave out to 100 different leaders last year. And the leadership assessment is based on the framework of the inner game, which is what we're cultivating on the inside to be conscious leaders. And then it shows up on the outside when we've cultivated the certain qualities. And two of the nine leadership competencies that were lowest from the sample of 100 leaders were psychological and physical well being. Therefore, that is why we are focusing on well being and if you're curious about where your strengths and gaps are, around the qualities to become a conscious leader, you can take the assessment and find out your score for free. I recently opened to the assessment tool to the public and the link will be in the show notes. Now onto our episode. Hello, Shine podcast listeners. Thank you so much for joining this season. I am so excited about this conversation with my friend, Greg. Coach. Greg, thank you so much for being here. Greg Koch 3:06 Thanks for having me, Carley. I really enjoyed the last podcast we did and the relationship that we've maintained the friendship since then. And I'm looking forward to today, Carley Hauck 3:15 likewise. And for those of you listening, I just want to share that I've only had two folks that have now been on the podcast twice. And so Greg, you're in very good company. Lynne twist, who wrote the foreword for my book, who has a new book that just actually came out that I interviewed her on at the end of last year is the only other person that has been on the shine podcast twice, but for good reason, the fact that you are both repeating, because you're very purposeful leaders, and she is also a very strong climate leader. And so I'm delighted that you both Greg Koch 3:58 are here, I feel honored. Carley Hauck 4:02 Well, so with that, please introduce, introduce yourself regarding your current role at IR M. And also, you know, why? The topic of water stewardship and water protection, which we'll be speaking about in various ways today is personally and professionally important to you. Greg Koch 4:26 Sure. Well, thanks again for having me. My name is Greg couch, and I live in Atlanta, Georgia. And I've spent when I've not been on a plane or somewhere out of the country, which has been quite often throughout my career, I've been based in Atlanta, here in Atlanta, Georgia. I currently work for consultancy called e r m Environmental Resources Management. And my role there as a technical director is in the water and climate space and And primarily what I do is work with clients to translate all the noise around water and climate risks and issues into an assessment of how those issues will impact the business, both negatively and potentially positively. Meaning there are opportunities to, to, to look at as well as risks to try to mitigate. And so what does that look like? Well, it takes all the data that everyone has, but then dives deeper in what information the client would have around their water use or greenhouse gas emissions, what they've experienced in terms of impacts regulations, employee interest, other external stakeholder interest, including investors, NGOs, customers, and consumers. So that nuances all that, that global information and local information, and allows you to come up with scenarios realistic scenarios of what could happen positively or negatively, because of the stress issues. And then let's just focus for the sake of time on the risks versus the opportunities. But when you look at the risks that we quantify, we help the clients quantify a probability of that risk event happening, and then the impact that they would experience if that risk scenario or if that manifested itself. And that assessment of risk, what what would this mean, to me, me in this case would be accompany, but it's the same if you want to take it down to the personal level. Once you translate the issue, into what could happen positively and negatively, to you, your business, what have you, that leads to two things that I find very powerful one is, it leads to ownership, because you're a part of translating the noise into real impacts that you would experience or maybe already are experiencing. So the ownership, right, you're not just accepting the data and saying, Okay, that's an issue, I'm going to do something about it. There's nothing inherently wrong with going from issue to action, but issue to risk and opportunity quantification, in my experience leads to that ownership, but also more impactful actions. So so that's what I do. And in the course of the topics we'll discuss, I can give you some examples of how I've helped clients, and what that actually looks like. Carley Hauck 7:42 Thank you. So that was a great summary. Why does protecting the water there's no, there's lots of resources in the environment that we can protect. But that seems to be one you've really narrowed in on in your life and in your career, why does what is protecting the water personally matter to you? Greg Koch 8:06 Well, it should matter to everyone in the same way it matters to me in that it is a fundamental resource life as we know, it does not exist without water, there is no substitute for water. And at the same time, while water is a finite resource, there's a fixed amount of water on Earth that you cannot change over the long term. We can't create or destroy water over the long term. But it's infinitely renewable. So I'll be honest, most of my pre adult life, I took water for granted water was something I played in, I recreated in I saw fall from the sky, you know, experience rainfall, you you have a daily visceral connection with water. So it's always been important, but honestly, I took it for granted. Like I think most people do, and probably that those from the fact that over human history, water has been relatively abundant, and relatively clean, and therefore hasn't posed significant challenges to the majority of civilizations that have come and gone and that currently exist. But all that's changed, certainly since the Industrial Revolution, and even more in the last few decades, particularly from the impacts of climate change, which we talked about in in our previous podcast was very, you know, climate change is the message than water is the messenger. Right? You experience climate change, primarily not through hotter temperatures, but through some change, more intense and more unpredictable water situation. So what was the aha moment for me? It came when I was working for the Coca Cola company. And one of the jobs I had It was addressing wastewater discharge around the world and the company had implemented a standard or requirements say that if you can't discharge your wastewater, your industrial wastewater into a sewer system, if you will, where the government were utility would fully treat that water, then you had to build a wastewater treatment plant yourself, right, so that you weren't discharging, untreated, industrial and sanitary waste. And that was very well adopted. But the standard that is, but it went when I first started assessing the current status. Now, keep in mind, Coca Cola operates, I think, in all but one or two countries in the world and has 1000 Hot plants. And so I really got exposed to the local conditions around water. Initially, it was through the lens of water pollution, but quickly started to appreciate the challenges of drinking water access, reliable, safe, affordable water, being there at the tap when you needed it, or in some close proximity. And all of that was happening at a time where in my life, I had young children, they're 25 and 22. Now, but at the time, they were toddlers, and, you know, preschool or school aged children. And you know, I appreciate it. The the luxury that we have compared to most of the rest of the world, in having that safe water access, and then seeing the impact when that safe drinking water is available, what that does to communities and made me appreciate more the situation that that we have here in Atlanta, but also recognize how dire the situation around water was around the world. And so Carley Hauck 12:01 I have a more personal recently, which I'll see ya, yes. But you know about Yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah. That's fascinating. Well, let me just kind of queue up what we're gonna be talking about today for those listening. So So Greg, and I've been noodling and emails in the last few weeks. And we came up with this fabulous conversation to share with you. So we're going to be really reviewing the interconnection between red tide microplastics and PFS. Over the course of the next, you know, 4045 minutes with you all, we're going to talk about what each of these are, how they are negatively impacting the planet's well being locally, globally, but then how that is impacting our well being, because what happens, what the planet is going to be happening with us, you know, we are interconnected. And we are, unfortunately, creating a lot of these problems. So we have the opportunity to shift that, to clean it up, you know, this, this is our home, we need to take care of our home. So so that is really going to be what we will be empowering, and activating and shedding the light on for all of you. And I also thought I would share a little bit about why water protection matters to me. So well. I grew up in Florida, which is not too far from Georgia, they're, you know, they're their neighboring our sister states, we could say. And from a very young age, I just had this kind of inner climate leader. And I was, you know, spending a lot of my childhood in St. Augustine, Florida, which is actually deemed to be one of the oldest cities in the United States. It's apparently where Ponce de Leon founded the fountain of youth. There's old Spanish forts. It's a beautiful, quaint city. And we would go you know, they're from my hometown of Gainesville when I was a kid every summer and multiple times during the year and I was noticing plastic on the beach. And because I was really interested in ocean life, and my father would give money to the World Wildlife Fund or the cetaceans society and so he would get these really cool calendars with all of these beautiful pictures of whales and dolphins and being a curious kid. I'm still a curious kid. Just a little older. I would I would go and look at the calendars and I'd see all these different organisms. missions and I started doing some research and finding out, wow, this humpback whale is endangered and this bottlenose dolphin is also endangered. And the sea turtle that I am fascinated with is really struggling. Why? Well, because we are poaching them, you know, we're polluting the oceans. And so when I was eight, nine years old, I literally was writing letters to the dictator. I guess they were a dictator at that time of Japan. And I said, stop killing the whales. So I adopted a gray. Yeah, I drafted a gray whale for my third grade class was $25. Back then I'm sure it's not much more y'all, you can adopt a gray whale. But it kind of started off, you know, at a young age. And so I've always felt this, frankly, responsibility to take care of the ocean. And there were not trash receptacles on the beaches in Florida. And I'm speaking to this now, because that was about 40 years ago, and I was recently in Florida, during red tide, which we're gonna get into in just a minute. And right before I left, thankfully, the basically the Tampa Bay St. Pete area lifted the restriction of being at the beach, because if you're near Red Tide, which Greg is going to tell us more about, you know, I mean, it can actually create some really adverse consequences, you can't breathe, you know, people get really sick if they go near the water if they go in the water. So all of the, you know, beaches, basically, in the Tampa St. Pete area, we were restricted from going and then the day before I was about to leave, they lifted those restrictions, it was safer, supposedly to go. And so I was walking on the beach with my father and I see a piece of plastic, which I know if I don't pick up a sea turtle is probably going to, at some point in their lifecycle see it, if it goes in the ocean, think it's going to jellyfish and it's going to try to eat it. So that's just an innate reflex of mine pick up trash, if you see it on the beach. And there was no place to throw it away. There's I mean, so Florida, Florida people. Now see you it's been 40 years I was doing this when I was five, I'm getting closer to 45. It does not take a lot of money to put waste receptacles recycle, compost would be great on the beach. Otherwise, it makes it really hard for people to do the right thing. Because most people are not going to pick up trash and carry it to a receptacle. And let's let's just let's just be real, like, you know, people go to the beach, they bring stuff, they bring stuff they don't even intend to leave on the beach. But let's say they have a screaming two year old who came with a little plastic bunny. And she throws the bunny on the beach and the bunny then gets stuck in the sand and they don't bring it back. Anyway, these things happen. Let's just make it easy for people to do the right thing. So this is why the water protection matters to me, because this is our home. I care about the planet, I care about the creatures, and I want to create a legacy for the future, that I'm not going to feel guilty about that I'm not going to regret that I couldn't have done more. And that, frankly, is going to alleviate so much suffering of so many people because we do the right thing right now. Greg Koch 18:50 Yeah. That's amazing. Thanks for sharing that. Carley Hauck 18:53 Yeah, thank you, Greg. Well, and I know that the folks that are listening to this have that inner water protectors as well. And so, before this podcast ends, I'm going to leave you all a prompt to really ignite that part of you because we all have that responsibility. And that opportunity. Okay, so without further ado, Greg, I feel like there's a you know, a music or is playing in the background. Can you please illuminate? Let's start with red tide. What is red tide? And why does it matter? Greg Koch 19:35 Yep. All right. So red tide is a global phenomenon. It can be called different things. But it's a condition where there's a certain micro organism and I'll get into that in a moment. It's an algae, different types of algae, but there's one in particular, that when it grows in abundance, when it grows, period, it per Do says a toxin a neurotoxin, as part of how it metabolizes food, and when shellfish in particular, but other aquatic species as well are exposed to that toxin, it can kill them and or affect their reproductive abilities. And if you eat those fish or shellfish in particular, you could ingest some of that toxin and it would have negative effects for you. It's called Red tide in in Florida and other parts of the world because that bacteria when it grows in maths, it takes on a reddish brown color. And that can actually color the water. And so the phrase red tide is used. There are other versions for it. So it's good that we started with red tide, because it's, it's the only one of these three topics microplastics and P Foss and red tide that occurs naturally, even without humans, but as exacerbated by humans. The other two topics we that's all the on us. Right? So red tide, or versions of it have been in recorded history as far back as the 1500s. So well before the Industrial Revolution well before the type of Population and Development we have today. So we know, in Florida, in other parts of the world, red tide has occurred naturally, these are naturally occurring micro organisms, and they do in particularly in warmer weather, when they are faced with enough nutrients. And I'll talk about the nutrients in a moment. It can cause it's perfect conditions, and they just start growing like crazy. If they are the type of algae that, that that produce this neurotoxin, then you get this, this red tide that happens now a little bit about the micro organisms, they're algae, and when you get a big growth of them, it's called an algal bloom. Right, just a lot of algae. One algae that all of us are familiar with, or most of the listeners should be familiar with is kelp. So seaweed, most forms of seaweed, including kelp are algae. So algae can be really big. If you've been diving off the coast of San Diego, the kelp forests are massive that actually an algae. So they are and I say that just to say that they are naturally occurring. When that algae bloom happens, I already talked about the impact to aquatic species, that neurotoxin and how that could impact you, but that that toxin that's released also becomes airborne. And most people will have trouble breathing. People who have immune compromised, their immune compromised or have asthma are more sensitive for some reason to to, you know, respiratory issues. It can be, it can be very debilitating. I'm not certain about deaths. And could anyone say this person died because of this, but it's certainly a complicating factor. And as you said, when that occurs, advisors go out and say, Okay, we're going to close the beach, you know, we're going to close it, the fishing, and we're going to close it to even people walking on the beach, because of both the dead fish and shellfish that will come up on shore. No one wants to walk around that. The smell of that, of course, but then also that toxin that's in the air that that's going to affect everyone and some people very significantly. So that's what Carley Hauck 23:48 Yeah, no, thank you. And just to speak to that, you know, I was reading a lot of articles. So I was I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago visiting my parents in the Tampa St. Pete area. And I remember when I was last there, there was also a red tie. And I'm like, why is Why is this still here? And so as I was as I was doing some deeper research, it had been in full bloom essentially with some minor, you know, wanes since December 22. And I just thought this has been going on for over a year. Yeah. And, and as I did more research, like 600 tons of whales and dolphins and turtles and fish are just rotting there. They're dead. I mean, this makes no sense to me. So that was in Part I, I was very angry. And I reached out to Greg and I said what is going on? And he said I was just in Florida too. Yep. So So I guess that'll go to the next piece of it. Why is this happening? And I've done some research, but I'd love to ask. Greg Koch 25:03 Sure. Well, like I said, it's been documented back to the 1500s. So it happens, it happens all by itself without any human intervention. But, and the science is not conclusive yet. But it is certain about one thing. A couple of things. One, you know, these things naturally exist. And for them to thrive, they need warm temperatures, like climate change, and they need nutrients food, just like you and I, we need magnesium and iron and potassium and you know, all these elements and nutrients, phosphates, nitrates, what have you. Our bodies need them to metabolize, to build cell structures to process food, what have you, it's the same with with any living organism, there's a set of nutrients that are critical. So when you have conditions where you have warmer than normal, or just warm temperatures and lots of food in the form of nutrients, that's right conditions, ideal conditions rather for a red tide to have red tide in quotes. Sometimes it's called the Blue tide. Sometimes it's all the other things, but let's just use red tide. So what role do humans play in either of those two conditions? Well, climate change is conclusively, in part, caused by manmade action. So we're making the world warmer, global warming aspect of climate change. And then we grow a lot of food and apply a lot of the nutrients that these algae love to the land. We do that in agriculture, we do that in our own home gardens, our lawns, our public spaces, to maintain those, for the most part, we apply a lot of fertilizer. And the main things in fertilizer are potassium, and nitrogen, and manganese. And so it is those nutrients that that enable the algae to thrive. So again, not conclusive, but if you triangulate runoff from land, particularly agricultural areas, and then coastal areas with warm, particularly warmer than normal water, body temperatures, you get these blooms. One thing I failed to say earlier, it's not just a title issue in the sense of the ocean, you can have algal blooms in freshwater, particularly in lakes, probably the, for those of your listeners that are familiar with the United States, Lake Erie, every summer, the west end of it, I believe it's the West End, just gets this green pond types gum on it, and, and that too, is it's green. And I'm sure people have been hiking and you know, in the forest and come across a pond and it's just covered in green scum. And that's algae, and conditions were ripe for that algae to to grow. Now, even if it doesn't produce this toxin, it still can have impacts on the environment and therefore humans. So this Algae grows, and it comes to a point where it can't grow anymore, because there's not enough room or enough nutrients or enough oxygen. And so that algae that algal bloom will eventually die. And when it dies, it settles to the bottom where other micro organisms say Oh, buffets open, let's go eat. And they start multiplying like crazy. And in doing that they they grow and they use up a lot of oxygen. So the dissolved oxygen, the amount of oxygen that's in water, for plants and animals to breathe to use is decreased and you get fish kills and other impacts. Probably the most famous one in the United States is in the Gulf of Mexico, at the outfall of the Mississippi River. Every summer there's a dead zone, actually called a dead zone because really everything dies because so much nutrients from all the agricultural practices in the Midwest come down the Mississippi dump all those nutrients in the summer you have warm temperatures and you get this massive algal bloom and once that algal bloom starts dying off, you get accelerated dissolved oxygen content and everything dies a dead zone. That doesn't sound great. So so it happens naturally. But it is pretty clear that higher temperatures from climate change and nutrients, primarily from fertilizer application, untreated sewage, untreated sewage, those types of things are going to exacerbate. Yep. Carley Hauck 30:09 Thank you. And I was also just gonna share, and it's not cracking down on polluters, right. And also, you and I were having a conversation prior to this one about how do we educate farmers to be more regenerative and their approach, right? I mean, we all know composting is the way we know that regenerative agriculture is the way forward so that we have, we're not ripping up, you know, the soil infrastructure, but we're regenerating it. So it's easier to continue to create a lot of opportunities for food and growth without all of this fertilizer. And it seems like from some of the research that I've been doing around Florida, and I'll leave, we're gonna leave a lot of, you know, very validated links about all of these things in the show notes. But apparently, the sea it was in the clean waterways act of 2020, did not require agricultural interests to reduce phosphorus runoff, and continues to rely on what is effectively a system of voluntary compliance. Well, that is not going to get it done. appealing to people's altruistic motivations. Unfortunately, without I think, certain checks and balances and consequences, is not going to support red tide to diminish. What do you think, Greg? Greg Koch 31:39 I agree. And, you know, not in defense, but an explanation of farmers. They spend a lot of money buying fertilizer, and they spend time and money applying it to land. And they know that they apply more fertilizer than the plants they're growing can actually absorb. And that cost them money. And when you apply more that the plants can use, that's what becomes runoff either trickles down into groundwater, or it's gonna run off off the surface, and then into rivers, lakes, and eventually into the ocean. The reason they they do that is that when a plant needs a certain nutrient, let's say nitrogen or phosphorus, they want to make sure it's available. Right? So you put more than you need, because you know, someone's going to wash off. And that when that plant in that part of the field is ready for it's there. Now, yes, if you knew at every part of the field, exactly what a plant is needs. During its growth cycle, you could apply that but just think of the technology and the cost of trying to understand that at such a granular level. So it's it's much easier for them to just apply it more liberally, if you will, so that they ensure that the plant is going to have the nutrients it needs. But unfortunately, that's what what ends up in our waterways and whether it causes red tide or not. There. There's other impacts to us, right? You know, the water treatment systems, for instance, for drinking water around Lake Erie, when they are faced with their source of water being covered in this green algal bloom. They have much higher water treatment costs to make that water safe to drink. It's a cyanobacteria that that actually grows from that blue green algae that causes that, that pond scum. So if you say all right, well, that's just temporary. It's in the summer. It's well, what if you live there, you know, beyond the health impacts? Carley Hauck 33:53 Well, I want to share I want to share just this is coming from an article. This is from a current, you know, citizen that lives in Pinellas County in Florida. So this is her experience in this part of Florida as we know it happens all over the world and all over the country. But she let me just Okay, so this this is coming from a woman Alicia Norris, a mother of 352. She experienced it firsthand. She said I cannot shake off that sickening, nauseous feeling in the summer of 2018. From the stench of dead fish turtles and manatees rotting in reddish brown coastal waters along the shorelines of St. Petersburg and the state's Tampa Bay area. And apparently, you know, it's been getting worse every year, as we know, because, you know, it gets it gets hotter. And just within the last year, Pinellas County Only officials reported collecting 600 tons of dead fish as the red tide peaked. Greg Koch 35:07 What that does to Yeah, it's deadly life. Carley Hauck 35:10 Property dolphins, manatees? Yeah, Greg Koch 35:13 the loss of biodiversity, property values, tourism dollars, you know, that fisheries people, fish or people who go out and catch fish to sell that we eat, you know, all of those are going to be impacted when you have a situation like this. Carley Hauck 35:31 And then, apparently, in 2001, the leak there is a basically a phospho Algeciras leak, that was discovered in a reservoir pond, that was holding 480 million gallons of toxic wastewater produced from phosphate. So there's apparently a lot of that that is positive, there's 25 Giant, toxic wastewater ponds in Florida. So I'm kind of sharing some of the God I don't want to hear this. But isn't this evoking emotion, emotion is going to get us to do something different. So I want to expose what's here? Because then we get to act on it. So we've kind of addressed what is red tide? How is it negatively impacting us? And now we get into what can we do about it? So and then we'll move similar Lee into PSAs, and microplastics, because they all are connected? Greg Koch 36:37 They are. So what can you do? I'd say for all of these topics, any topic that's new to you. Do some research, get some facts, as you said, Carly, in the show notes, you're gonna have some links to some reputable this is like no, CDC, right? Go get some facts. And Carley Hauck 36:57 Greg and I have come up with these resources together, by the way, so they're I'm not just pulling them out of thin air we actually came together on like, okay, let's share these. Yeah. Greg Koch 37:07 So whatever the topic is climate change, microplastics, red tide, you know, whatever, go get educated, you know, maybe this, this podcast is the first step. But if this interests you, or some emotion that's evoked, we'll do some reading. But beyond that, there's always advocacy that people can do and, you know, become somewhat, you know, cliche ish, but write your representative in Congress, right, your local, but those things matter, right? So do write your local representatives, your your local town, your county, your state, whomever and say, This is my voice, you know, that it's rare that people get to voice their concerns and issues with elected representatives outside of voting for them. Right. But but this is one way. And they have entire staffs, who, whose job it is to feel these questions and summarize and, and so it does have an impact on these people. If they say, you know, 10,000 people in my constituency have written to me about this issue. They're passionate about this issue, I have to say something and perhaps do something, and perhaps doing something is going to be something constructive. So get educated. Right, your representatives, right. But what can you do Carley Hauck 38:30 on it to plug one other piece to? Yeah, you know, I think it's also really important that we give money and we're supporting the institutions that are doing research on this. So for example, like, the mote aquarium is a research laboratory down in St. Pete, Tampa Bay, Scripps, which is where I am in San Diego, you know, they're they're doing some incredible research around ocean protection and how climate change is impacting the coral reefs to our water to red tide. And so like how do we support these institutions that are creating the education for us? Greg Koch 39:10 That is, and they're also creating the data, the science that regulators and other people will eventually look to to say, Okay, this defines the situation now I want to do something about it. So excellent. Add. Carley Hauck 39:25 Yeah. So I know we could talk about this for hours. So I want to move us into woody Which one do you want microplastics PFS? Greg Koch 39:37 Well, let me let me just want to add one more thing for things that you can do at home right now. Yes. Even if you live in Kansas and not worried about red tide, but one is, think about the fertilizers you're putting on your own lawn in your own flower pots in your in your apartment, whatever the case. There's a huge climate impact producing those fertilizers. And then if incorrectly applied, they can contribute to water quality issues, including red tie. So think about maybe using composting of your food waste and using that as a fertilizer and just be thoughtful about your fertilizer application. The other thing is, if your house or apartment, your home relies on a septic tank, that septic tank should be properly maintained. You know, it's not flush it and forget it, you still have a responsibility as a homeowner to properly maintain that when those aren't properly maintained. They can release a lot of sewage, which has lots of problems, but nutrients are are one of the things that is contained in sewage. So those are two other things that you could do. All right. Carley Hauck 40:50 I really appreciate that, as well. And you know, the other piece two, and I know you came up with this, but I think it's so important that we pay attention to what are we putting down the septic system, right? Like, are we using environmentally friendly products for cleaning for laundry detergent for you know, washing there's, there's so many options. GROVE collaborative also is a really wonderful company and everything that they provide are really environmentally safe and plastic free, in fact, cleaning and household resources. So I will put a link in the show notes, they are one of my favorite companies. Greg Koch 41:33 So one other thing I saw, I just learned about yesterday, Amazon platform has a filter that you can I haven't tried it, but someone showed it to me. Right now it's around climate change. Like if a company has set a Paris treaty aligned carbon reduction goal aligned with the 1.5 degree change. Some of your listeners will know what that is. It shows up. So if you're looking at products that you might buy from Amazon, there's a screen there that say, okay, which ones have set a goal of reducing their carbon emissions. And, you know, hopefully over time, other credible certification platforms or organizations would join that. And that way consumers can make an easier informed decision on something that that's not going to be as impactful to the environment. Carley Hauck 42:32 I love that. Yeah. Greg Koch 42:35 All right, well, let's go to microplastics. Boy, Carley Hauck 42:38 I feel like I want to get going from Greg Koch 42:40 bad to worse. Carley Hauck 42:42 Take it away from my class six. All right, there we go. Greg Koch 42:46 We'll talk about a personal evolution on the topic when most of my life, you know, I didn't Well, I don't like seeing litter on the side of the road, you know, wherever on the beach and waterways, just just, you know, out in the field or whatever. But I thought, you know, what harm is it doing? You know, it's just a can or a newspaper. It's just there. And then yes, you read about certain plastics that turtles might think as a jellyfish. And, you know, I just didn't really appreciate it was that big of an issue? It's wasteful. Aesthetically, it's displeasing. But is it really doing harm to the environment? Well, here comes micro plastics. And there's two categories of micro plastics. So they're defined as a piece of plastic that is of a certain size, and that's five nanometers, but it's tiny, tiny, tiny, the two most predominant sources of microplastics. One is intentional, and one is not intentional. Let's start with the intentional one. There's something called microbeads. And you find these microbeads in their tiny little balls of plastic, that are in makeup, are in exfoliating creams are in some toothpaste and are even in some, some foodstuffs. So these are manufactured microplastics that are put into a product, a human use product for some sort of functionality, right, it helps with exfoliation, or taste or texture of a food that you're you're eating whatever the case may be. So that's one and there are many examples of products that have microplastics in them. The other is probably what you're thinking of, it's just a piece of plastic, any kind of plastic that has been disposed that in the environment, particularly in the in the aquatic environment, and particularly in oceans, but it can happen on land it can happen in rivers and lakes. Oceans are just more energetic and dynamic. That those pieces of plastic take take a plastic bottle, soda or Water, whatever it is, it just gets broken down over time. You know, just like water action, breaks down rocks into boulders and then eventually into pebbles and then eventually into sand. So it's the same natural phenomenon that's breaking apart these pieces of plastic. And now, they're really tiny. And they currently are everywhere. You can find them in the Arctic, North Pole, you can find them in the Antarctic, you can find them on the peaks of mountain tops throughout the world. You find them in rivers, lakes, and in particular, they're all over the ocean. They're everywhere. What is the problem with that? The problem is, well, first of all, there's still a lot of science to be done. But what is already known is, you're probably eating them, maybe even inhaling them as you speak. And, and listen, because, as I said, they're so prevalent around the world, they're in everything. So you could just do the the mental thought experiment, say, Well, how can a microplastic and an ocean end up in my body? Well, if a fish or some species, even if it's one that you don't eat, but something you do eat, eat it, right in the food chain, they might mistake the plastic for food, or it just might be attached to something they normally eat. Like say that's a turtle that wants to eat some plant like kelp, or I'm not sure if they eat kelp, but it's got microplastics attached to it, they're just going to ingest it inadvertently. Or they actually think it's food that's usually with bigger pieces of plastic. So inside the body, it's not going to break down, it's going to take 100 to 1000 years for it to break down in your body or other people's body. It is already known to cause reproductive issues in aquatic species. What is the birds and amphibians, lizards, frogs, snakes are also exposed to it, anything that's closer to a water environment is probably going to be ingesting it. And that has problems just for biodiversity overall, but if you eat any of those, or rely on them to do something else for you, then they're being impacted. The human impacts are unknown. Certainly not pleasant to think that you have undigested plastic in your in your gut. But odds are you do. In fact, I would almost guarantee it. But no one's done the science to say, how much microplastic Can I ingest over a lifetime? That's a safe amount. Right? So there's the studies that are done on all kinds of chemicals that are aquatic, or in our case, human. Carley Hauck 47:57 And I also login another piece to this. And this is also, you know, kind of connecting to what can I do? Right? Yeah, to avoid microplastics. But based on hearing that we have, we all have plastic in our gut. But guess what else has plastic and it's got animals, right? Yeah, fish, because we're depositing so much of our plastic in the ocean, but it's also getting in the soil, it's getting in the water, it's getting in the air. And so Greg and I are both, you know, big plant based advocates, and you will actually have less plastic, if you're eating more fruits and vegetables, you know, a Whole Foods organic plant based diet, and that also will greatly mitigate the effects of climate change through less fossil fuels. And the more that we can actually eat vegetables versus things that are packaged, there will be less plastic, you know, we don't need I mean, it's great that we have beyond me, and we have all these really wonderful opportunities to get these products like just egg who happen, you know, just like Josh Tetrick happens to be a CEO that I have focused on in my book, Josh and I have had heart to hearts, he's like Harley, we wouldn't need to even create, you know, being placed or being sourced offering if people were just eating more beets and vegetables. So anyway, we can minimize our plastic consumption by eating more whole foods plant based and also just by choosing not to buy plastic as much as possible, even though we know it's everywhere. Greg Koch 49:45 I remember one time being in I used to travel a lot, particularly International. And I remember I think it was in Japan. And in the airport. They were selling bananas in a plastic bag, a sealed plastic bag and I looked Get that and I thought the banana has a rapper, rapper that protects that banana in the forest in the jungle for transportation, everything, but for some reason someone thought, let me put it in a plastic bag before I sell it. It has a nature provided bananas, its own packaging. But it's great. You say that. So what can you do? Again, educate yourself write your representative. But I like to think of what I can do about microplastic as the three C's consume less clean. All right. And don't change as often. All right. It's a it's a weak alliteration. I get Carley Hauck 50:44 that I love it. One more time. Greg Koch 50:47 Yeah, no, it's consume, clean and change. break those down for you. Now, I think that's a really weak alliteration. But so the first one you already said it's, you know, buy less things that have plastic in them, or are made of plastic. Right? Particularly. Yeah, particularly single use. Totally plastic. Right. So here, well, you can't see it. You can but your listeners can't. is a plastic water bottle that I got at REI. Rei. Yeah, go Rei. So it's made of plastic. All right, but I'll have this I've had this for 10 years, I'll have it for another 20. Right. And that's better than a one way bottle of water that I just drank. And now I've got to get rid of it. Right. So fortunately, increasingly, you see a lot more consumer goods particularly, Carley Hauck 51:46 and bring your own Tupperware to the restaurant. I went. So I currently live in San Diego right now. And I went to a place I tried to actually cook and eat the majority of my food from home, but sometimes I'm out and about, and I gotta eat dinner. So I stopped to get a salad. And I knew that I was not going to leave the whole salad. And I said, I don't want you to put it in a TO GO Box. Even though they had a compostable box. I brought my own Tupperware. And the woman behind the counter said, I love that you brought your own Tupperware, why aren't more people are doing that. And I was like, I know. But you just have to think about it and grab it. So bring your own plastic Tupperware. That's how you use it. And for those of you that have been listening, the podcast, you know that I had this experiment where I lived in Costa Rica for three months, and I tried to live as regeneratively as I possibly could. And I brought plastic everywhere. And I recycled even my little plastic baggies. Like I just I really did not want to bring more plastic into this country that does not want it or need it going back. Greg Koch 53:00 Consumers don't buy things or plastic. Certainly, well, if you can avoid it. One way plus Carley Hauck 53:08 another piece. This is a plug for the US airlines and international. They, in my opinion, are one of the biggest polluters of single use plastics, we do not need to be using plastics for everybody's water consumption. I've talked to the airline attendants, they hate giving out these plastic cups. So southwest, you know united, what are we doing? It's so easy, there is compostable plastic ware that we can be giving out to our patrons who are going to love the fact that you are being more environmentally responsible. For you, I don't know are the airlines any of Arabs clients? How do we get the airlines your clients? Greg Koch 53:55 I don't believe any of the airline's our clients. I know we've done some work for some of the airline manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus, but I don't know. But wow, talk about a captive audience and a captive waste stream, right? No one's gonna take any of that waste with them when they leave the plane. So it's entirely up to the airline what to serve, and what to serve it in and what to do with the waste that's left. It's only them right? Because people aren't going to bring their own meal. Most people are water and they're not going to leave their way or take their waste with them. Carley Hauck 54:30 So I do but I'm meticulous. Bring all my own food. I bring my water bottle and I just want to plug only 7% of what we think gets recycled actually is recycled. So the rest of it it's just going into a landfill and or the ocean. Greg Koch 54:46 That's the worst part. All right back to what can you do we talked about last Carley Hauck 54:53 and then we don't have a lot of time left Greg. So we'll have to move into PFA clothing. Greg Koch 54:58 Let me just do clothing. Yeah, go for it because most clothing has plastic in it. Yeah, nylon, you know all these synthetic fibers. So try not to buy the latest fashions all the time and throw out your other stuff. And believe it or not, because most clothing has plastic in it, your dryer, if you heat dry your clothes, like you wash your dryer at home, it's generating lots of microplastics that will get out into the airborne environment through your dryer vent. So think about that. Particularly with the, you know, the trend to buy all new outfits for every season because it's cheap, and you can have a new outfit and whatnot. But let's move on to P FOSS. Carley Hauck 55:43 And I'll just plug I know we're sharing a ton of information. But after this interview, I'm going to repeat the what can you do a summary for everybody before you so stay on till the very end of this interview because you're going to be reminded, okay, Greg, take it away. P FOSS. Greg Koch 56:02 P FOSS? Carley Hauck 56:03 What a fun name your pays Greg Koch 56:05 are P Foss, I think it's most commonly referred to as P FOSS. And sorry, my dogs are excited if you hear them in the background. Yeah. Well, it's funny, those dogs have beef. Awesome. And so do you, Carly? So do I, it's everywhere. You know, I talked about microplastics being everywhere. This stuff is really everywhere. I'm everywhere. So what they are is they're they're per and polyfluorinated substances, abbreviated as P FOSS. It's a chemical and manmade chemical. It's a poly or fluoro polymer for anyone who wants to try to understand that. But in the shownotes there'll be some links that explain you most commonly experience P FOSS in Teflon, scotchguard GoreTex. Those are probably the three most trade names that most people are. So stain resistance, water resistance, stick resistance, right? There's more industrial applications and firefighting foams, but because of Scotch cards a brand name, but what I mean to say is stain resistant coatings, which are everywhere. Teflon, everyone's frying pan, and cookwares coated with something nonstick. And then GoreTex is every bit of outdoor equipment. Those things are major sources of peat moss, and so they're everywhere. And because they've been used so ubiquitously. It's in the entire global population. So there was a famous study that one of the manufacturers of P FOSS did, where they, you know, said we're gonna do a random sampling, you know, I don't know 10,000 People and sample their blood and see if there's any P Foss, they stopped after 100 people, because 100% of the 100 people that pee FOSS in them. They're like, it's everywhere. It is everywhere. It's considered a forever chemical, meaning it takes 1000s of years to break down in a natural environment that it's in you you'll never get rid of. There's no way to get P FOSS out of your body. We believe that it has thyroid cause thyroid problems, cancer, reproductive issues, and liver does liver damage, but a lot of the science and that's not just in people that's in other living species, aquatic and terrestrial. And the science is still out of we know if you consumed a bunch of this, it would be detrimental probably deadly. But the tiny concentrations that we all have and are exposed to from our clothes or carpet, whatever our rain jacket. What does that look like? What are the long term health impacts over a lifetime that being exposed? We don't know. But in an abundance of caution regulators around the world in Europe, even in the United States and the Biden administration pointed out put out some recent new rules to say we've we've got to start limiting how much new pee FOSS gets into the environment into the product supply. And we start we have to start cleaning up some of the hotter spots of pee FOSS Carley Hauck 59:29 just to give a little bit more science. And this is all been found you know through the pf the P FOSS action act of 2021 which was designed to create a national drinking water standard for select P FOSS chemicals. And basically, the lawmakers shared that more than 320 military sites have P FOSS contamination and more than 200 million US residents could be drinking contaminated water now Want to cause cancer, reproductive and developmental issues and weakened immune systems? So there is, you know, this new legislature that it seems like it's being passed finally, through the EPA, because it's been stalled many times to remove three. And I believe there's 600, forever Greg Koch 1:00:17 600 versions of these. Carley Hauck 1:00:19 So why are we only reducing three, Greg Koch 1:00:23 three, go start somewhere. But I can tell you, you know, linking it back to my personal life, you know, the consultancy I worked for, there are places where we go and sample for this, to see, you know, if it's there, we know it's going to be there. But at what concentration, it's incredibly hard thinking about you're trying to sample for something that might be present in the parts per billion or even trillion, but you the person doing the sampling and doing the lab test, have P FOSS in you, it's in all the lab equipment, it's in the sample container, it's in the air, even just sampling for and trying to test it in the lab is very difficult because of how ubiquitous it is. And to be honest, that the three issues red tide microplastics and, and P Foss, this is the one that that worries me the most, not just the three that they're acting on now, but all 600 of them, and they are forever chemicals. Carley Hauck 1:01:18 And they're not just you know, local to the US. They're global, because they've gone out and all products all over the world. So what can we do? We can? Mice? Yeah, go ahead. Well, I was also gonna say, What are you cooking with y'all? You know, cooking with to get rid of that Teflon, you stainless steel or all clad is another Greg Koch 1:01:45 something. But I think the number one thing you can do after you sort of scrub your you know, is just be cautious about new products that come out. That sounds too good to be true. I mean, think about it, you know, think about stain resistance, you know, I could spill blueberries on this dress shirt that I have on right now. But because of the stain resistant, it comes right off. So be a little more cautious when a new product comes out, say, oh, it's got all this new function well, is it using a forever chemical? Does it have microbeads or microplastic in it and, you know, get educated about what you're bringing into your home into your body. As you work to try to eliminate the original sources of this Be careful not to buy a new one. Because it's the latest greatest thing. And it does things we I you know, stain resistance, waterproofing, stick resistance, these things make our life easier. But I would trade the convenience that those things offer for, for better health any day of the week. Carley Hauck 1:02:49 And make sure that you have really good filtered water, like some research on this reverse osmosis is the best to be able to really eliminate PFAs. You know, one of the things that I didn't share in this podcast, but it's also why I felt even more compelled to put more effort in my own life around water protection is when I was living in Costa Rica, Greg knows this. I unfortunately, got hit with parasites three times in three months. And this was due to I love Costa Rica. But if you're near the coast, they don't have great drinking water. And I have no idea what I was picking up. And it's not because I wasn't drinking filtered water, all my teachers, but I was I was eating local produce, because I was trying to stay away from having to cook everything and I didn't want to eat out. Yeah. And that local produce is being you know, grown and unhealthy water. And even though there's parasites and there's PFAs here in the States, I guess my body's like, I know that parasite. You're welcome here. But the parasites in subtropical climates in Costa Rica, my body was not happy. Took a little while to come back into healthy. So I believe that that was for me. And for me to then reach out to Greg and say, Hey, buddy, let's go we gotta talk more. Let's let's amplify our efforts to protect. This was wonderful. The other thing that I just wanted to leave as as resources is, Greg has written a fabulous book with his colleague will sarni I'm gonna leave a link in the show notes, which speaks to some of what we can do from a private and public sector. So even though Greg and I have been saying what can you do individually, this also comes down to what do we do in our business, right? Business has such an opportunity to be a force for good to really I change its operations so that it is aligned with the SDGs. And environmental responsibility and accountability for that matter. And then I'll just plug my own book, my own book shares another pathway, which is, how do we really cultivate that conscious motivation, as an individual to really lead, whether it's at work, whether it's in our communities, whether it's at home, and to see models of other people doing that, to know that, we have the opportunity, we have the responsibility to be the change, and there are going to be lots of resources for your education, for your activation that we will leave in the show notes, and I will come back, if you stay on just a few more minutes, I will summarize all the things that you can do. And, you know, maybe just pick one from each of these categories. And start small. And Greg, thank you, again, give our listeners with, Greg Koch 1:06:05 I think, not plugging my book, but the underlying premise of the book is about wellbeing. And the book starts off with an obvious realization of more, right, you hear politician, we want more jobs, you know, you're a business person, say we need more profit, more revenue, more volume, right? It's always more more more more and more across business, across government, even in our own lives. People want a bigger house, a nicer car, newer clothes, more jewelry, more, more, more. And in part microplastics, and nutrients and P FOSS are linked to a consumer society. And so the premise is, you know, instead of focusing so much on more, why don't we apply all that energy into well being? Carley Hauck 1:06:57 And less and simplicity. Yeah, I love it. Okay, thanks. This is so much fun. Yeah. It's so good to talk. Thank you again. Thank you. Thanks. All right. Keep keep rocking it, Greg, Greg Koch 1:07:14 you to have fun and have fun this weekend. I will. So have fun. You too. Take care. Carley Hauck 1:07:21 Bye. Well, I am humbled and inspired by that conversation. Greg, thank you so much for willing to noodle on this with me the past couple of weeks, as we, you know, co created what do we want to talk about? How is this going to be in service, for the flourishing of people and planning, and I'm just really delighted to have you in my life and this friendship that keeps deepening. For those of you that want to connect more with Greg, you know, he's doing some fabulous work with companies, and so is his consulting firm. So his LinkedIn handle is in the show notes. He also wrote a fabulous book. And I would encourage you to go there. As I prompted throughout the podcast, there were lots of action steps that Greg and I spoke about. And what I would encourage you to do is, you know, to pick one or two from each of these three sections, red tide, PFA, S and microplastics. So let me summarize a couple for you to really take some action on because we are all leaders, we all have the responsibility and the opportunity to lead and we have to take care of our home and that is planet Earth. If we do not take care of her, we will not flourish. our well being as you heard is being hugely negatively impacted. Because of our actions. We need to clean it up. We need to do better, we can do better. So I hope that these action steps inspire you. Share them with friends with colleagues with your kiddos, what can we do about red tide? Well, as we heard, the more we can mitigate warming of the planet, the better. So we try to abstain from fossil fuels. How do we do that? We don't drive as much you know, you don't have to go to the grocery store to go get that thing every day. Ride your bike more take mass transportation. And also, you know, be mindful of your heating and your cooling and just your energy consumption, limit or even eliminate home fertilizer use that even And, you know pertains to, if you're living in an HOA or you know a residential neighborhood are the landscapers using fertilizer like you have a voice This is what you pay for right? Figure out what are they using? Is there a way to have this be more regenerative pick up pet waste even on your lawn that actually makes a difference, as Greg mentioned, maintain your septic septic system. And really refrain from dumping any pollutants into sewers or storm drains or your laundry you know, so again, like there are so many environmentally friendly products for shampooing and laundry, to cleaning your pets to washing your hands that are biodegradable and healthy. Also see what you can do if you live near streams or water. How can you help clean up the water right so that there isn't trash or pollutants? It was kind of astonishing to me in 21 I was living outside of Asheville, North Carolina and the front prod wherever, which is one of the largest rivers throughout the Mississippi was quite polluted. And it just ran through town people would get really sick in the summer when they go swimming in it and I just think so Why are you swimming in an infected huge river? Why aren't we cleaning this up so we can enjoy it. And the same thing as you heard me talk about in Florida, which is please people that are living in Florida, please to help me get some new legislature so we have composting in Florida so that we have mandated solar on roofs that's going to help mitigate warming and red tide. Okay, I'll stop there. What about microplastics? What can we do about that? Well, it's intuitive, we use less plastics. Bring your own bag, there is no excuse for not having a cloth bag. Bring it when you travel. Bring your own water bottle when you travel when you go on the plane, refill it anything honestly that is transported in a plastic bottle that then has water in it that then you drink from at some point that plastic bottle is being transported in heat. When plastic gets hot. What happens? Well, chemicals from the plastic leach into the water which then you're drinking. So I don't believe that what is in your plastic bottle is cleaner than the tap water. So let's really try to bring our own bottle. There's a ton of incredible filters when you go to the airports now. And you just refill your bottle there. wash your clothes, less often. Air dry clothes, because that's going to mitigate microplastics you don't have to buy new clothes. I love going to consignment stores one that's going to lower fossil fuels because it takes less energy to have to create new clothing when you can actually just use great ones that are still in good shape that were probably way more expensive than what you can get for them now. And buy plastic free cosmetics if you're using cosmetics and don't microwave in plastic containers. We kind of already know that and then again, you can do you know litter cleanup. That's also going to help. What about PFS? PFS is harder because they're in everything. There's over 600 But filtered water is huge. And in doing my research reverse osmosis seems to be the best way to reduce them from your water. We also need to call our legislature or senators or Congress, you know, men, women people, why are we only limiting three when they're 600. And let's go a step further. I would love to encourage you to watch the movie dark water, which came out in 2019 Mark Ruffo and Anne Hathaway Oh yeah, some big stars are in this movie. And they basically exposed Dupont, there is a article in the shownotes where there is some evasion on actually paying the amount needed for all the people that got sick and the ongoing long term effects that they have caused not just the US the world, it's everywhere. And we also want to have less consumption of packaging because that is going to have one microplastics into it. PSAs so there are a lot of wonderful actions that you can get started on. But before we end, I wanted to leave you with a prompt. So let's just take a moment to just go inside, close the eyes. If you're driving, don't do that. And just feel your body. And when you think about this question, notice what arises, feelings sensations. And what do you feel inspired to do? What if you didn't have clean drinking water? What if you didn't have enough water to use for your every day? You know needs? There are a lot of people in the world that don't. How would that impact you? And what might you do to ensure that you protect it the water for yourself, for your neighbors for your community for life for animals for future generations? How could you live more simply how could you bring your attention towards living in a way that is regenerating? Not over consuming, not destroying. Water is becoming more scarce and quantity and quality. We can and should expect that there will be a reduction in precipitation due to changing climate. Drought, excessive withdrawals of groundwater from aquifers. Freshwater is diminishing. And we have a finite amount of water, which means we have to protect it. We are water protectors, you are a water protector. I invite you to take 30 minutes out of your week to reflect on how you want to be a water protector in your life. If you enjoy this episode, please give it a five star rating and share it with friends, colleagues and community who will benefit. Additionally, if you know of someone or you yourself work in the airline industry

The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals for Purpose and Meaning with David Hanrahan

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2023 54:13

This SHINE podcast interview is on the transformative power of sabbaticals for purpose and meaning with David Hanrahan. David and I speak about some very relevant topics for the future of conscious leadership and business, including his long and successful journey in people development, his own stand for well being and how his sabbatical last year helped him to come back with more engagement, more purpose, meaning in his work. Episode Links: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals Sabbatical Project company database Sabbatical Sessions- MEA Deloitte Well Being Report David Hanrahan on LinkedIn SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — leadfromlight.net Carley Links: Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/SHINEbook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck Inner Game Leadership Assessment- https://tinyurl.com/igniteyourinnergame Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://carleyhauck.com/leadfromlight Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast Shareables: “It's just an incredibly fun challenge to unlock people's potential.” — David Hanrahan “For me, it was really surprising in terms of how much the sabbatical did re-energize me. It changed me.” — David Hanrahan “There is a growing call to change up how we think about the workweek, and your schedule, and how long should you work without taking a break?” — David Hanrahan “A sabbatical fundamentally changed my career trajectory. If I didn't have this experience, I probably would have been done with the work.” — David Hanrahan The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I'm your host, this is the fifth season of the SHINE podcast. I started the SHINE podcast as a way of doing research for my book on conscious leadership in business. And you will find interviews with scientists, researchers and business leaders on the intersection of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. My book debuted in 2021 “Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game of Conscious Leadership” and was voted one of the best books to read in 2022” by Mindful magazine. I facilitate two episodes a month of the SHINE podcast. And before I tell you about the topic for today, please go over to Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast carrier and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes. The focus of this season is on the essentials for wellbeing. And that encompasses the intersection of our personal well being, the collective well being of our workplace, and how that fosters and nurtures the planet's well being, they are all connected. I focus on well being this season, because I really want to crack the code and inspire folks to prioritize their individual well being and therefore that will transcend into the collective and the planet's well being. And I have developed an inner game leadership assessment that I gave out to 100 different leaders last year. And the leadership assessment is based on the framework of the inner game, which is what we're cultivating on the inside to be conscious leaders, and it shows up on the outside when we cultivate certain qualities. And two of the nine leadership competencies that were lowest from the sample of 100 leaders were psychological and physical well being. Therefore, that is why we are focusing on well-being and if you're curious about where your strengths and gaps are around the qualities to become a conscious leader, you can take the assessment and find out your score for free. I recently opened to the assessment tool to the public and the link will be in the show notes. Now on to our episode. 2:50 Carley Hauck This SHINE podcast interview is on the transformative power of sabbaticals for purpose and meaning with David Hanrahan. David and I speak about some very relevant topics for the future of conscious leadership and business, including his long and successful journey in people development, all the way to his current role now as Chief People Officer at Flare. David speaks openly about his own stand for well being and how his sabbatical last year helped him to come back with more engagement, more purpose, meaning and he'll share what he learned and how he's integrating that into his work life now. We speak about how we can redesign the workplace to prioritize well-being: everything from shorter workweeks, sabbaticals for every role, how to establish healthy boundaries, and then really listening to your people, and then committing to structures and strategies that benefit the whole. And lastly, David shares how he inspires trust. As we know, trust is essential to a thriving company and culture. You won't want to miss one minute. Thanks for listening. 4:22 Carley Hauck Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining the SHINE podcast. I am here with a very special person, David Hanrahan. And David is going to be talking with us about so many incredible things that are really relevant to the future of work in our podcast interview today. David, thanks so much for being here. 4:42 David Hanrahan Carley, thank you for having me. 2:02 Carley Hauck Well, I want to just kick off our conversation with just sharing a little bit of history. For our listeners, you have worked for some incredible companies, Eventbrite, where you were Chief Human Resource Officer, you worked for Niantic, for Twitter, which was pre-Elon, Zendesk, Electronic Arts, and even Universal Pictures. And now you are at Flare, which I know you're going to share more about. But what is really unique about your journey is that you've really focused on people development. And I feel curious, why did you pick that? And why does that matter to you? 5:25 David Hanrahan Yeah, you know, it's a puzzle, I think of many organizations, particularly tech companies, growth tech companies, there's kind of an arms race of hiring a lot of people, which for many of them, they've kind of gotten themselves, you know, in trouble more recently, and a lot of headlines are not good around having to lay people off. I think the challenge is not not about hiring a lot of people or how fast can you hire them? It's whoever you hire, how do you unlock their potential, you bring it, you bring people into the organization, we get excited about them, we assess them, this is the best engineer to do this one thing, this the best leader to do that one thing, and then they come in. And oftentimes organizations get in their own way of the potential of the people that they've hired. And there are these hidden barriers, these hidden stumbling blocks that basically make organizations fail at seizing the potential or unlocking the potential of the people that they've hired. And it's incredibly tricky. It's one way I think about it is typical engagement curve for people who come in, and engagement just, you know, they're sort of their sentiment of whether they're motivated, they want to stay they they're proud to work there. It goes up in the first six months, and then between six months to around three years, it just goes down. And then something interesting happens around three years where it starts to bend back upwards. But those first you know, kind of few years, you're basically losing people are losing their mojo, right. And so when your engagement is low, or it goes down, you're basically giving less, you're giving less your discretionary effort, you know, your desire to solve problems outside of your day to day scope, kind of erodes. And so why does it happen? How can we bend that curve? I think this is just an incredibly fun challenge to unlock people's potential. And these companies that you mentioned there one connective sort of thread for me joining those companies is that someone, someone there at the top, oftentimes the CEO, also was passionate about that, and we wouldn't be with you know, we would kind of sort of riff on that in the interview around this just being the challenge for us is we need to hire people. We need to hire the best, but then unlock their potential in order to really achieve our stated mission or strategy or what have you. So I just think of it as an incredibly fun puzzle. 7:51 Carley Hauck Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I've focused my whole career on people development and serving people to be their best as well. So I'm with you. And I find human beings fascinating, right? There's just so many different parts and complexities. And I love that you used unlock, because again, like how do we really allow people to be their best, you know, at work, at home, and therefore, like, then companies can really be best for the world. And I feel like that's the responsibility and the opportunity right now. So thank you so much for sharing all of that. Well, you know, shortly after you and I met last year, you shared with me that you took a sabbatical. And I knew that I needed a sabbatical. So I am just coming off the heels of mine. And I would love it if you might share a little bit about that. But before I asked you that question, I'm keeping everybody kind of at the edge of their seats, knowing that's coming. You know, I wanted to just share some research around wellbeing and burnout. And I just feel like that is such, so much top of mind and such a top priority for people leaders. Because as you were talking about engagement, it's so hard to increase engagement when people are just on empty, right. And so, you know, I think that's just been rising since the pandemic. And therefore, we're seeing things that were always under the surface, and they're now showing up stronger and louder, such as, you know, systemic racism and mental health, lack of physical well being, all of these things. And part of the book that I wrote, which came out last year, I really emphasized well being and it's a very important leadership competency, because I feel like if we aren't focusing on the well being of ourselves, how do we focus on the collective well being of our people? And I wanted to just share some really amazing studies that I became aware of in the last week, and I thought that could be something you could respond to, but could then also segue into your own reason for sabbatical. How does that sound? 10:15 David Hanrahan That sounds great. 10:17 Carley Hauck Okay. So this statistic came from Deloitte's Human Capital Trends study in 2020. And it found that even though 80% of executives said wellbeing was their top priority, 90% of workers felt like their life was getting worse. When I read that my heart just sank. Another one, researchers from Harvard Business Review found that employees who trust their employer experience 74% less stress, 40% less burnout, and employees with higher workplace belonging take 75% fewer sick days. I mean, that just makes a lot of sense. I come in all the time, and really assess where psychological safety is. And if you don't have psychological safety, you don't have trust. So those are really impressive statistics to really understand how we increase trust in our organization. And then a 2022 Deloitte study found that 57% of employees are considering quitting their job for one that supports their well being. And this was pretty interesting to also read an even higher share of executive sign 70% plan to quit for the same reason. So I mean, all of these statistics are just kind of showing loud and clear that well being has to be a priority as we build the new version of work. What do you think about all of that? 11:45 David Hanrahan Yeah, these are really eye opening. And I want to try and zoom out as far as I can on these. Sure. I think about some of the timeframes of the study, so they're just their recent but the past few years, lots of change, lots of changes the past few years. So you know, obviously, pandemic, one, the changing sort of nature of work. I mean, I so if I think back 10 years ago, maybe 10-15 years ago, kind of dating myself, but I remember a day when I was working where I would leave my laptop at the office, where I didn't yet have a company provisioned phone. Where there was kind of a line there just seemed to be aligned. If someone called me on the weekend, like ooh, this is urgent, but I can, I can plug in and unplug much more easily. And so just fast forward just a few years and for many from many you know who find themselves in sort of the knowledge knowledge work or you know, you have a laptop, you're, you're in a salaried position, you're kind of always on, you're always on it, when you have company has people in different time zones, I get a ping a little ping in the middle of night, I see my phone light up, I have to do more to set boundaries now than it did in the past. I have to turn my phone off, I have to set the notifications, I have to set the you know, sort of do not do not disturb all those things. But for many people in the pandemic, it kind of caught up. And then really quickly, I remember just getting out of bed, you know, no longer going to the office, I would get out of bed, and I would open on my laptop, you know, and like I just started working. And, and that was a little bit of frog boiling in water where I didn't know, all these things were adding up as a change of like work was consuming. Yeah. And I think that's probably indicative for a lot of people where just work suddenly became your identity. This is who I am. I go to, you know, a dinner party. And like, the question is, where do you work? You know, that seems changed for me, in part because of where I moved. But, you know, I think, well, being a top priority and 90% feel their life is getting worse is a host of things, potentially also societal. So the rise of social media. I think as we're talking right now, there's a congressional hearing about banning Tiktok, you know, for various reasons, but I found myself having to get rid of all but one of my social networks, which is like, kept LinkedIn, you know, for job purposes. But, but so, you know, while work has changed a pandemic, and has happened, there's also been this change in information flow of, you know, the media, I think, knows that the information that causes a reaction from people, which is money, is to get you worried, or to get your anger angered about something, or to just to, you know, have a visceral reaction. So I had to click into the next thing I have to follow along, I have to log into the next day to see what's going on with this random thing that maybe years ago, I would have seen in a newspaper, but I can put it away. But now it's fed directly into my mind through this, you know, this phone, that's always, you know, always with me. And so there's a whole host of things going on there. That I think is the world and is life really getting worse, sure, in certain aspects. But I think we're also, we're incentivized to believe that as well, which then causes our mental health to suffer. That's just that's just one person talking. I'm not a psychologist, but like, that's, that's one thing. That's one perspective I put on it. And so it is also true at the same time, that for people who trust their employer, like the employer, as an institution, is, is one thing that is like an omnipresent part of my life, right? This is my employer is where I get my paycheck. And I saw a quote from a late comer leader not too long ago, who said, the job of a leader in tough times is to put more truth into the world. And so trust, also, according to someone I just listened to who assess high performing teams said trust and mission orientation, for him and his research were two factors of high performing teams. And so it actually took to trust your employer, to trust your employer. Obviously, this research right here shows that I'm less stressful. So if I can increase that, as an employer, I'm thinking of that as like, that's my path to helping unlock their potential. According to this one leader I talked to, trust is a factor of three things, which is competence, benevolence, and integrity, which is really interesting. And then so and then the last thing here is I'm just kind of meandering here to address sort of some random reactions to those three bullets. The idea that people now are quitting, you know, they're quitting, in order to find something that is better for their well being, I think also probably represents a little bit of a shift. And potentially not for every age group for not every demographic, potentially a little bit of a shift in terms of what's important for people now in life. 16:39 Carley Hauck Yeah. 16:41 David Hanrahan And, and so that's even true for executives, as well. But I think there has been that shift as well, which is that money is always going to be important. But I think people are seeing after, you know, a global pandemic and seeing this, this information flow of negative news is that they gotta they gotta make sure they're living a full life. 17:10 Carley Hauck If you don't have your health it doesn't matter how much money you have, right? If you don't have time for your loved ones for your family, right? 17:18 David Hanrahan 100% percent. So yeah, this I'm nodding my head furiously as I read those posts, because they all make sense to me. 17:23 Carley Hauck Yeah. Well, thank you for weighing in on all of that. And, you know, one thing that I remember too, which has been true is that even though folks are working less from the office, and they're not commuting, they're working two and a half hours more every week, I don't think it's every day. I can't recall the amount but you know that without healthy boundaries will create more burnout, right? So as you spoke, how are we creating and designing for our well being? So let's shift to your sabbatical. Tell me more about that, and what you learned from that and how you're now implementing, I'm sure as best you can, as you've stepped into this big role, what you learned? 18:11 David Hanrahan Yeah, I know, I will say that. I've been familiar with sabbaticals for many years. And when I was at EA, we had a sabbatical program, it was kind of, it was kind of mocked a little bit, it was kind of viewed as a sort of like, a gimmick or sort of like, you know, people take your sabbatical, and I quit. So it was like, Is this valuable? Is it creating any value? And then just over the years, I've also just been aware that many, many tech companies, they sort of, they consider adopting a sabbatical as something to set themselves apart. And so going into my sabbatical, I kind of was pessimistic, frankly, around, what like, what could happen for me honestly about it. So the context for me, is that my last company, we wound up just trying to pull off this major transformation, which is, without going into too much detail. I was joining it thinking it was going to be a growth mode, global pandemic, shutting down live events basically put us on this sort of white knuckle adventure for a couple of years of trying to change this company, fundamentally changing it changing the business model, and then changing the culture too, because we were a company that was very, very much in-office oriented. And then we shifted to work from anywhere, we shifted so many things across the business and the culture, that at the end of it, I just, I just sort of looked in the mirror, and I realized I was spent by just, you know, whether I wasn't ready for this, the amount of energy suck, you know, during the global pandemic and, and the role of the Chief People Officer through that role specifically at this company for me, in this transformation, not alone, what wasn't the only Chief People Officer only one at my company who had this feeling, but I remember just sort of coming to the conclusion that like I'm, you know, I don't have any more fuel in the tank to do this work. Not necessarily this company, any company, just this work, I just didn't have the fuel in the tank. And I didn't have an opinion that like I was done with the work of HR people function, I didn't have that opinion. I just knew I just didn't have it in me anymore at that moment, time. So I talked to my boss, and I said, Listen, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna hand the baton over. And it did that in a very orderly fashion. And then I didn't really have a plan, I just said, I think I'm gonna go mountain biking. That's all that's the one thing I knew I'm, maybe I'm gonna take a class. And there, you know, there it was driving, you know, south to Moab with a minivan in a rented mountain bike. And then suddenly seeing like, overlooking the Grand Canyon in the Colorado River, and just not thinking about people work. So now I'll fast forward to like, what did this actually do? For me, it was really surprising in terms of how much it did re-energize me, it changed me. And I can only say that just from my current job, I feel like I've started over my career just in terms of the energy I have for it. And just like, you know, energy comes out through discretionary effort. I'm just constantly thinking of ideas and like constantly pushing. And yeah, it was, I once kind of mocked or just thought very little of the value of a sabbatical. And for me, maybe not for everyone, but for me, it fundamentally changed my career trajectory in terms of like, if I didn't have this experience, I probably wouldn't be done with the work. But the sabbatical kind of saved me in a sense of like, stepping back into this work, which I love. 21:40 Carley Hauck Wonderful. Well, we need people, leaders like you, David. So I'm glad you're back. And, you know, I also think it's so important that when we have that awareness that we're empty, you know, we don't we don't have to give that we take that time to speak up to share, you know, whether it's a long sabbatical, or it's, you know, something just happened in my personal life, and I need time for it. And, you know, being able to really lean on your co-workers, your team, you know, feeling like you can share that with your leader and that they've got your back. I mean, that all creates more trust and the ability to know that I can stay at this company and actually just bring my whole self which is sometimes exhausted. 22:28 David Hanrahan Yeah. 100%. 22:30 Carley Hauck And it's not a sign of weakness, right. I think I think it should be more a sign of strength of being able to actually acknowledge that and then, you know, find ways to to be there for other people when they're experiencing that too. Sabbaticals, or something that I became really familiar with, actually, in 2020, because I was supporting Clif Bar, I had the great privilege of supporting them, it was initially going to be an in person, inclusive communications training for their whole company. And then oh, the pandemic happens. So then we were creating and designing something virtually, which they had never done. And I learned about their really strong sabbatical program every seven years. But I thought, Wow, that's a long time. What if we implemented a sabbatical every year? What if every role got that? What do you think about designing a company to incorporate sabbaticals? 23:32 David Hanrahan Well, you know, one way to think about that is really just a fundamental change of call it the 40 Hour Workweek, the nine to five, just just rethinking, where does my productivity come from? And there has been a lot of research around, particularly in knowledge work, when people are at their most productive. And the big TLDR there is, it's really not anything to do with the nine to 5, 40 Hour Workweek, meaning your moments of productivity, where I have this fun log where I am cranking through something, I am solving a big problem I'm create creating this, like, you know, this, this sort of enterprise value for the company, right? It's in tech, they call them the 10x engineer is a sort of like a euphemism. But it's, you know, it's really just like people have these moments where they're like, they're in the zone, call it right. And so there's research on this, which, which basically found that you know, that in some cases, the nine to five, forty hour work week gets in the way of it. So when people work less surprisingly, if they work less, or they have less meetings, if you take your pick of all these things that get in the way of your productivity, it's about protecting your time. And so having these moments where I can actually be in the zone, and going back to sabbaticals. More recently, there's been published research around the four day work week. And what they found is like benefits from it. And just coming to this podcast, I was just reading a post from I think his name is Nick Blum. I think he's a Stanford professor. But he basically posted a big critique that said, like the research that this third party did around the 40 hour workweek has all these flaws in it. And so he's critiquing it. But so where was that related sabbatical? I think that there is this, I think there's like this growing call to like to change up how we think about the workweek, and your schedule, and like, how long should I work without taking a break? And where, where is the company going to get the value out of its people from? And so the four day workweek is one example of someone trying to say, like, Hey, we should rethink this, we should rethink the things called the 40 hour workweek is 100 years old, it came from the Ford Motor plant in the 1920s hasn't been, you know, reimagined since we have all this growing research that people can actually be a lot more productive. So when I think about the future of allowing sabbaticals have enrolled more frequently. I think, if we can, if we can perfect the research for the company, I bet you, it would be a no brainer. I bet you if we find a way to get people positioned so that they're there, they can be in a zone, they have less meetings, like as an engineer and engineering is a lot of meetings, it's not not coding. So how do we sort of get data? How do we get practices that allow people to unlock their potential in a protected way? And then we give them the time back that allows them to recharge and come back with that energy and come back have the energy to do it again. I think the sabbatical would be a no brainer. And I think that there's something there's around research and data that for a company would make it a no brainer. And right now, as an example of the four day workweek, it's not landing well. The research is not landing well for the people in charge. It's really only landing well for very brave use, smaller companies. But I think, imagine this at scale where a big fang company saw this, they would be all over it, they'd be doing it because they would see that, wow, this is creating this like enterprise value for us because we're getting the most out of our people and they're coming back recharged. So I like it. I think there's a research component to it. 27:16 Carley Hauck Yeah, so in the research that I did for my book, I was studying a lot of different countries as well that were working, you know, different hours than the US and they were showcasing more happiness and more productivity. I believe Denmark is 28 hours a week. They're they're doing amazing things. France was 35, I spent a month in France. You know, as I was writing the book, I was like, Okay, how are they living and working? You know, seize the day. And what, there was a study, I believe it came out in 2019. It might have been, I think it was 2019 pre-pandemic with Microsoft, it was their Japan office where they had folks work for days. And they saw a pretty large increase. And I wrote that in the book, but I don't have it in front of me. So. But yes, I mean, I agree, I think more and more research needs to happen. And that will continue. So, David, what are you taking away other than it's great to go mountain biking in Moab and you know, being unplugged? What are you taking away from some of your learnings of, I believe it was nine months, right that you had a sabbatical? That's incredible. What are you bringing in now that you've stepped into this newer, Chief People Officer role at Flare? How is that informing your leadership? 28:40 David Hanrahan I'm gonna steal one, I was having a coffee with a colleague who also did a sabbatical, a shorter one. But she went to South America for a few weeks, and then came back to her company. And she had a realization, and I am like, I didn't realize it. But I had this same thing, same effects for me, which is, you gotta be really sort of like, slowly step into the day. So in the COVID pandemic, as I mentioned earlier, I would just open up my laptop, I just immediately start, and you don't feel it in the moment you don't feel when you're doing it right then that it's kind of slowly eating away at you. But it does build up over time. And I, like she said, you know, what, if she came back, she's like, I'm just gonna, I'm just not going to start my day until I've had my coffee. And I like I, like, watch the news, or I go for a walk, or I just like, the, the organization is not gonna like, like, own me that way. And it's really, it's self imposed. So it's like, it's not as if they're actually doing it, but it's self imposed. And I definitely had that realization as well, that ever since the sabbatical, I wake up and like, you're faced with like life, like, there's a, there's like, there's a wind going on outside, there's, there's a little bit of like, like, rain on the grass, there's, something's changed in the neighborhood, I'm gonna go inspect that and like, and so don't make work. Like the very first thing when you wake up, don't make your day solely about work, you know, otherwise, you're not going to do the job at work. And so yeah, I start my day. Now, in the pandemic, I was starting my day, like 630 in the morning, and now I started like 930, or 10. So the big change. 30:20 Carley Hauck That's great, thank you for sharing that. And I'm 100% with you, you know, I I like to exercise and do my spiritual practice and meditate, all those things, because it gets me in the most centered, upbeat place before I open an email before I see the news before anything, because then I have the ability to respond. And I love that you said wind because that's really what it feels like. It's like there's all these things that could be keeping us down this path, which could create reactivity, right. But we don't want to lead from reactivity, we want to lead from wisdom and responsiveness. And you had mentioned even before that, folks that felt they could trust their employers experience less stress. Well, based on my being a neuroscience nerd, I know that if we perceive stress, our first reaction is fear. Because that's the first emotion that's elicited. So again, that fear response is going to be reactive, versus the opposite of fear, which is love. So how do we approach this with more care, with more grace with more love, and I just, I really think that that is the way that we inspire that we create, you know, more of the culture that everybody wants to really work in and stay in. So that could be another whole conversation. Thank you for sharing that. Well, I'm gonna put a little plug actually for, for Modern Elder Academy, because I know that Chip Conley, who's a friend of mine, has been doing these sabbatical sessions and I might just plant a seed here, Chip, I think we need you to do some research on sabbaticals folks come in, to to MEA and to really see how that's benefiting them when they go back into life. So there it is. But can you tell me and our listeners a little bit about what the difference is between a Chief Human Resources Officer, which I believe was your role and title at Eventbrite and the difference between that and Chief People Officer and I'm aware that depending on the company, it's going to look different, but yeah, please break that down. 32:50 David Hanrahan I'm going to answer it only half serious, which is at Eventbrite. I couldn't be the CPO because they already had a CPO, they had a Chief Product Officer and it was going to be confusing. And, we don't have a CPO at Flare. So I get to be the CPO. But um, that, you know, I think it's the same thing. I think the term human resources has kind of gone through a branding change over the years, like it used to be called the personnel department. And then someone said, maybe it's the HR, it's the human resources department. And then someone more recently said, you know, that kind of sounds robotic and cold humans as resources that doesn't, you know, it's people or some or some might call it, you know, employee experience. We call that the Briteling experience at Eventbrite. So I think there's, there's this kind of a brand or a sentiment behind the term that for the company, maybe tries to denote some sort of, you know, egalitarian or progressive view on the work itself. But one thing, you know, what is the CHR? What is the CPO? I think of three things that no matter the title that you're trying to do, and it's a Venn diagram, and it's a bit like, it's almost like three plates, you're spinning in the air. But the three things that make up a really good Chief People Officer, let's just say, are strategy, execution, and relationships. Now, you might say, well, that applies to the CFO or applies other roles to that, that's, that's possible. But I think about it as there's some really good Chief People Officers out there who are just good at strategy. So they have the ideas and like they have, like, Wow, you're really versed in best practices, like you've got all these really good ideas, but can you execute on them. And so you also have to be able to execute some good, some Chief People Officers out there are only good at execution, but they don't have the strategy, or they don't have the relationships necessary to build strategy. These things are kind of interdependent. And then finally, you might have a Chief People Officer who's the relationship person, everyone loves working with them, they're so much fun, they're just like, they're the culture warrior at this company. And like we love, they're in that role, because people love working with them. But they don't have any ideas. And they're not known for really good execution. And so the trick is to be really good, you have to do all three. And sometimes sometimes you enter at a mode where I can't talk about strategy right now, people, I have to build trust, to build trust, and to build trust, I really need to execute, I really need to show that we're competent, and I have integrity, and that people can trust, you know. And so, you know, to do one of them, you sometimes have to start in one direction that kind of works the way the others. But um, so that's my answer to that question, which is like, what, what kind of common for both the CHR and CPO is having to do those three things. 35:33 Carley Hauck Thank you. So as you are, you know, stepping into this new role with Flare. First, I'd love if you could share with our listeners, what's the vision and the mission of Flare? And how are you designing the foundation so that it incorporates well being so that it incorporates, you know, trust you know, strong leadership, all of those things? I mean, well, those are two really big questions. So we'll go back to the first one, what is the vision and mission of Flare? And why did you feel inspired to join it? 36:10 David Hanrahan Yeah, that's a great question. So I'll talk about the mission. First, the mission is to enable strength and clarity through key life moments. And so what that means is, if you've ever gone through a life event, and so what I mean by that is, you know, these big things that happen sometimes in people's lives, no fault of their own, but they're going through a custody situation, or they need to get guardianship or conservatorship of their elderly parents who can no longer take care of themselves, which was which was my case last summer, or they have a divorce going on, or their there's an immigration or a tax or an employment matter, people who've been let go recently in the news for layoffs, like that's a tough, it's a tough moment that like no fault of my own this happening to me, I need help, I need something. And oftentimes that help is in the form of a lawyer. So last summer, my brother and I were facing the fact that we needed to become guardians for an elderly family member who was no longer able to take care of themselves. And we knew that we had to get a lawyer and so we started working with a lawyer. And the long short of it is, like a lot of people it's not a good experience. And sometimes you pay all this money for someone who you think is going to help you and it actually feels worse, frankly, there's no communication. There's like it's low tech, it's like we're FedExing documents and we're I got to sign like literally sign you can't DocuSign and stuff and it's it's opaque. Like what's happening next. Are you doing any work here? Are you are you talking to the court or what have you. And so Flare is trying to change that. So Flare is building products for law firms to be able to receive and manage cases directly through technology and creating a higher NPS, a higher a better experience through tech, and is also trying to create a way for people who need support in these life moments to find the right lawyer for them. So Flare is a tech company, and the consumer experience is called Marble. That's where you might find Marble or now Kindred, these are law firms. These are new law firms, it's a new way of doing law. And so for me, my well being is in many ways, it's really aligned to that mission back to that mission orientation aspect of high performing teams, I feel really good because I'm in a company that's doing something important. That's one big ingredient of my well being. I'm spending time I'm not sort of regretting all this time and spending doing this one thing and for creating the next, you know, next best taco delivery service, or whatever it's like this is this is, this is important. Now, like how we're actually trying to cultivate well, being in the company is very iterative. I think we're in a learning mode. So we actually have quite a bit of travel that goes on, we as a company have some younger populations. And so what we believe is the younger population, they actually do want to be in the office. That's what we see: they want to actually be together as I'm as I'm a brand new SDR. I want to learn by actually having a conversation with you live, like show that, show me this, show this to me. And so we're seeing for that population, that's it that's just exited school, they don't want to be alone. Many of them, they don't want to just be stuck at their home, they want to be in an office, different from some leaders who are traveling and they're like me, I'm working. I'm, I'm used to this. This is kind of my mode. 39:37 Carley Hauck You've got young kiddos. So it makes it easier, right? Yeah, just different stages. 39:40 David Hanrahan That's right. So we're documenting this, we're documenting this as a sort of like the how and why and what and that of our work, and trying to iterate on it as much as possible and trying to measure it. So I would say for us the wellbeing journey, we're still very nascent. And it's really, it's a learning mode. 39:58 Carley Hauck Yeah. And I'm sure there's a lot of listening, right, like, what do people want? And then making sure that whatever you've heard, you're creating some commitment to some accountability to implement so that then they trust you, right? Oh, well, well, they really care. And they are listening to what I say I want to what I don't want. 40:20 David Hanrahan 100%. Yes, yes, well said. 40:25 Carley Hauck Great. well, in some of our conversations offline, I know that leadership development is something that you feel passionate about, and that you think really needs to be prioritized for this future of work. And, yeah, as you know, I've written a book on conscious leadership and business, and really focus on certain leadership competencies, I know that you've read SHINE, my book. And I, I feel really curious, out of some of the inner game qualities that I've highlighted in my book, and there might be others that you feel are also essential. What do you think are some of your strengths? And what do you think other people leaders should be embodying to inspire a trusting organization, so that kind of had two parts? What are some of the qualities that you feel are some strengths of yours, these inner game qualities and just to share with our audience, you know, some of those are self awareness, empathy, self management, self belonging, which is, you know, self compassion, acceptance, forgiveness towards self. So all of the inner game is what we're cultivating on the inside, that then determines how we show up on the outside as a conscious inclusive leader. 41:49 David Hanrahan Yeah, that whatever I'm about to say, in terms of what I think are my strengths, whoever's listening to this, who knows me is probably going to do a big, huge eye roll. But let me let me sort of like be as as humble as possible, when that sort of like, you know, that relates to your book, that I'm gonna sort of cite a piece of research. One thing I've tried to do, as I've grown in my career, I've tried as much as possible to really have self awareness. And you know, there's an author's name is Travis Bradbury, and he cited some research that says, as you ascend an organization, EQ goes down. So literally, if you if you take people's titles as like manager, director, VP, C, whatever, that as they ascend their EQ, actually It goes down. And EQ and self awareness are somewhat related. But, nonetheless, the highest performing leaders at each of those levels were the few who had that high level of EQ. So, the highest performing CEOs or see whatever, actually have high EQ, compared to the rest is the research. And so it's a dwindling resource as you grow. And so I tried to get better at that and just knowing how I'm coming across knowing my energy knowing like out my, my sort of whatever I'm imparting in a room, am I speaking over someone, am I sort of dominating the room is my emotion that, you know, kind of changing the sway. And I've also seen leaders who like totally unbeknownst to them, something that they just did completely change the tenor of the meeting, or change the direction of something because they reacted to something in a way where they didn't even know they didn't even know that their reaction actually just killed some idea, like, like on the spot. And they then later on said, Well, what's happened with this one thing? And I said, Oh, well, we, you know, we heard that you didn't like it, like what do you mean, like, What are you talking about? And so it's amazing what that does, as you grow your sphere of influence and self awareness. I think one thing I need to get better at over time, which is really hard, is empathy. And back to that research of high performing teams and benevolence. So one thing that both of those first two self awareness and empathy were core to the leadership development program that we built at Eventbrite. So we talked about sort of, you know, sort of putting your own air mask on first. And that when you're starting to get to know your team, we had a question called, how are you really doing the idea of like one on ones, oftentimes, we just have this pleasantry of like, Hey, how's it going? How's your week? Yeah, it was good, whatever, and we move on. But like people who actually have something interesting going on, it could be tough. It could be like there's something that's going to be over or overbearing in this conversation, something's happening in this conversation that I might not even be aware of, because it's something that's going on with them right now. And I, if I really, really want to know how they're doing, I'll have empathy. And that empathy does something special in terms of building trust, and changing the relationship between us in terms of my willingness to go the extra mile for you as my manager? 45:08 Carley Hauck Oh, well, thank you for sharing that. So self awareness is a strength and empathy is something that you feel like you can learn more of, well, this might be refreshing to hear this is just some of the research that I've been doing on both of these, but I, I break down, the inner game of emotional intelligence, as self awareness, and self management are the inner game. So those are the things that we are cultivating on the inside, and they kind of, you know, run in tandem, the more self aware you are, the more self management you're able to possess. But then that creates the outer game. And the outer game are the other two aspects of emotional intelligence. Because there's, there's four factors of it, which is social awareness, social sensitivity, we could think of which is a precursor for psychological safety, and then relationship mastery. And those are the outer game. So when you have more self awareness, more self management, that increases your social awareness, thus, empathy, and your relationship management. So I would say, you know, you're getting close, David, you're focusing on the inner game, which is only going to increase the outer game. So thank you for that humility. And just in our last minute or two, gosh, I could talk to you all day. But what do you think is, are important qualities for other leaders to really, you know, possess? And even maybe more specifically, when you think about the leadership development that you're investing in at Flare? What are the qualities you want the leaders to possess at Flare, which is specific to that vision and mission and culture? 46:50 David Hanrahan Yeah, when I think about a leader, and so whatever their title is, but they're leading, they're leading something, it's my job, I need to lead something. I think you you want to be able to inspire people to you know, kind of give a little bit more of themselves to sort of like, be sort of like accountable for themselves to you know, treat each other well, like there's, it's the yearn for the sea quote, if you're familiar with that one, which is, you know, if I want to teach someone, I want to go and teach your people how to build a boat, I'm not going to have them put all the sticks and logs together, I'm going to teach them to yearn for the sea. And so the storytelling so we're talking I think we're talking before the call about sort of strategy and storytelling, and you as a manager, I start to move from management to leadership. When I'm moving from just assigning goals of like, you got to do this and you got to just moving from goals to there's a strategy behind this, there's a story of like, why this is important. And if I just get that as an employee, if I get the strategy, I can kind of do the goals myself, I can kind of figure out what I need to do, I can be empowered, if I just know that strategy, the stories of storytelling, I think is really important for leaders to go from vision to now there's a strategy or story here. And now I don't need I don't need to do as much of the goal setting because my team is empowered, they're activated to understand what we're trying to accomplish, they can come to me and tell me, what are the goals? What are the things I should sign up for this quarter, and I can, I can kind of help them curate it, which is different than being didactic. And just like my job is to sign up all of you for all these goals. 48:30 Carley Hauck Thank you. And so what I'm imagining is a precursor of a quality for strategy is being curious, staying open. And so I think of that as you know, growth mindset. And as you're, everyone's listening to me, I'm super curious. So I'm asking David a gazillion questions. And I have even more, but this was so wonderful. I think that you've really shared a lot here that is going to be helpful for a lot of people leaders and Flare is really lucky to have you. So David, thank you. 48:58 David Hanrahan Thank you, Carley. 49:00 Carley Hauck And is there anything else you'd like to leave our listeners and you know, this very short 30 seconds? 49:02 David Hanrahan Oh, no, reach out to me on LinkedIn. That's my one social network is the only place you'll find me. So. But no, it's been a pleasure. Thank you. 49:15 Carley Hauck David, thank you so much for your time sharing your wisdom and your experience with us here on the SHINE podcast. I learned so much and deeply enjoy our heartfelt conversations. I went back to look up the exact statistic of what Microsoft Japan found when they experimented with a four day workweek in 2019. I wrote about this in my book, and there's actually a lot around various well being research in my book in chapter five, around different countries that are doing it right, we could say, there are I'm sure still iterating and we're all trying to figure out what the recipe is. But Microsoft Japan found there was a 40% increase in productivity with a four day work week. They also found that it lowered carbon emissions because folks were not going into the office one more day a week. And people over all reported greater health and well being into the long term. So I would say that's still pretty much a win win. And David and I were speaking about how we need more research on sabbaticals and the benefit of sabbaticals for non academic positions. You know, for everybody, right? And I actually have a podcast episode coming up in this season, where we're going to speak more to that. And so far, I wanted to share a little bit of what I found through the Academy of Management. They found that people who take sabbaticals uniformly returned to work feeling more affirmed in their own voice, with confidence and a renewed sense of purpose. You can hear that was David's experience. Personally, my sabbatical just ended. And initially, it was six weeks of just being completely unplugged. And you'll hear me continue to share some of my learnings over the course of this season and some solo episodes. But I was essentially gone for almost three months living and then living and working in Costa Rica. And in many ways, it was a bit like a quest, a quest of recovery of practice, and an exploration of what it really looked like to live in a more regenerative way. And to do that in community and what were the communities doing in Costa Rica that were supposedly more intentional, or focused on sustainability and regeneration, I'll have more to share with you in an upcoming solo interview. I am so excited about what we can create in the future of work. And I am really excited to find my next professional opportunity, bringing all the gifts and talents that I have to a senior people leader role. I am making a pivot from my business and leading from wholeness to joining a larger team and purpose driven organization where I can have more impact, to really influence the greatest good. I'm having some wonderful conversations with folks exploring that right opportunity. But it's all about the network. And I want to make a bold ask that if you're a senior people leader and you would like support in creating a learning culture, a thriving workplace that has the foundation of well being and psychological safety and trust, then I am your person. I would love to get to know you. Or if you know of someone that's hiring, please let me know. Send me an intro. You can reach out to me. My email is carley@carleyhauck.com or find me on LinkedIn. I am so excited for this new opportunity and I so appreciate your support. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We are in this together and sharing is caring. And if you go to the link, leadfromlight.net you will receive a free gift on how to create a high trust culture and you'll also be alerted to new podcasts. I will only come into your inbox twice a month. Thank you. And until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

64. Birthing a New Way of Well Being At Work and In Life with Carley Hauck

california canadian entrepreneurship human thrive new years stanford consulting next year leadership development transformational leadership conscious leadership sounds true marc champagne carley hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2023 45:13

This is the 64th episode of the SHINE podcast and the first of 2023. The focus of this season will be on the essentials for wellbeing. Each interview will highlight new research and thought leadership on the correlation of personal well being, the well being at work, and how to live and conduct business in a way that nurtures the planet's well being. To kick off the season, I will speak to my own learnings and refinements on how to birth a new way of well-being at work and in life. I will speak to what I learned from living in Costa Rica in the last 3 months during my sabbatical, relevant research regarding happiness and the Blue zones, and lastly prompts to help you identify what are the essential ingredients for well-being at work and in life. Episode Links: Inner Game Leadership Assessment Blue Zones Food List SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — leadfromlight.net Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/SHINEbook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck Inner Game Leadership Assessment- https://tinyurl.com/igniteyourinnergame Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://carleyhauck.com/leadfromlight Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck and I am your host. This is approximately the fifth season of the SHINE podcast. I say approximately because on average, I have 9 to 10 interviews per season. But if inspiration hits, then guess what? You get more goodness. This podcast focuses on the intersection of three things: the science and application of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. Before I tell you about this next season, and our topic today, please go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button. This way you don't miss out on any future episodes. And you can also scroll through our many episodes in the last couple years, and find inspiration, and wisdom and science there. This is the 64th episode of the podcast and the first of 2023. And the focus of this season will be on the essentials for wellbeing. And this is encompassing the intersection of our personal well being, the well being at work, and how we can support the planet's well being. This season has so many incredible interviews, so many wonderful tips. And I am also really excited to share with you some of my own refinements of well being. And so I will be sprinkling in three different solo interviews with you over the course of this season. So join me now for the first of these solo podcast interviews, as I talk to you about birthing a new way of well being at work and in life. Before I jump in to how I'm going to break this down, I'd like to encourage you to take the Inner Game Leadership Assessment. There are nine different essential inner game leadership competencies that I've been studying and doing a lot of research around. Many of these are highlighted in my new book SHINE. When you take the assessment, you will see where your strengths and gaps are, so that you can level up and upskill. The link will be in the show notes under Inner Game Leadership Assessment. 3:07 Carley Hauck So let's go ahead and step into this incredible episode. There's a lot of information I want to share with you. So I'm going to break it into three parts. I went to live and work and be in Costa Rica, which is one of my favorite countries that I've been going to annually for five years, but visiting for about 10. I'll break this interview down is to focus first on my inner well being journey in Costa Rica and the refinements and the learnings that I had, that I think will benefit you. Second, I would like to share some of the science around happiness, and specifically around some of the Blue Zones research that has been conducted mostly by a colleague of mine, Dan Buettner, but also by many other folks to really understand what supports longevity, well being and people really living their best life because don't we all want to love and live our best life? Definitely. And then lastly, I'm going to leave some prompts and questions so that you can help design a life with greater wellbeing. Okay, let's start with part one. How I upskilled my inner well being and some of the refinements that I made and I'm continually integrating now that I'm back in the US. So I went to Costa Rica for three months, and I want to share that that was a big planning process for me, it wasn't something that I just decided to do, it was something that I knew that I wanted to prioritize in 2022. And a part of that actually came about because I could really feel a high level of burnout at the end of ‘21. And I knew that based on what I had on my plate in ‘22, I couldn't really take that much time off. But I knew that I could prioritize it for the end of ‘22, and into the beginning of ‘23. Because without it, I was not going to be able to bring my best to my life, to my family, to my friends, and to be able to be in service in the way that I want to for leaders and companies, especially as everything is being restructured. This is a time where I feel I have immense value to add. But I can't do that, if I don't have enough energy, to be able to provide that type of dedication and commitment. In order to live in Costa Rica for this period of time, I had gone through a lot of letting go in the previous few years. If you really knew me, which I'll share a little bit, I actually have been living this very nomadic life since May of 2020, which is not actually something that I think is for everyone. It's not something I ever thought I would be up for. But I had to leave my home in Oakland in May 2020 because the quarantine, and pandemic created some hostility in my van landlord, and she became very irrational. And it was not psychologically or physically safe for me to remain there. So I ended up moving away, six hours away to a very remote but beautiful location in the Eastern Sierras and the summer of 2020, right before Black Lives Matter hit in Oakland. So it was actually quite a blessing and a gift for me to leave, I ended up suing her. I won the lawsuit. And that took me on this really crazy journey of living in lots of different areas and cities and communities trying on, trying to figure out where home really wants. I lived in North Carolina, in a very small mountain town, that was 8000 people for the majority of ‘21 with some breaks going to Sedona living in Bend Oregon, trying on San Diego. And then in ‘22, I moved back and relocated to California. But I left the majority of my things in a storage unit, which is still there in North Carolina. And I had the great opportunity to return back to the Bay Area where I spent most of my adult life and also got a chance to try on San Diego. So I share all of that because I have learned to be comfortable with not a lot of stuff with you know, small suitcase with the essentials. And that allowed me to live with even less in Costa Rica for three months. So what did I kind of bring with me? A yoga mat, a clean press that would allow me to have certain you know herbal teas and herbal latte is that is a daily infusion that I have for caffeine in the morning I had you know two bags of clothing and brought two books, my journal and just really let go of a lot because I knew that I was not going to be able to get the same products without spending a ton of money. There is no Amazon in Costa Rica right now, which is wonderful, but it really does limit what you're able to bring in and therefore buy when you're in country. So I packed the essentials. And for basically the first six weeks, I was incredibly unplugged from technology from social media from work and this was part of my sabbatical. And I knew that I needed this time to refill my well and to be able to focus on other learning and other nourishment. And I have spent probably the last 15 years of my life, taking the last week to ten days in silence at the end of the year, this is a pretty regular ritual and refinement of mine to be able to really purify the mind, body and heart. And so this time of year, the end of December of ‘22, I actually spent almost a month and a lot of silence. And that was really nourishing for me. And that allowed me to really honor my slowness, my emotional sensitivity, and my desire to have more time for embodiment for rest in play. And because I was mostly in silence, rest and play just look like staring at trees, it looked like listening to howler monkeys, it looked like swimming in the ocean. And I believe that the more and more that I listen to what is my natural rhythm, just like all of us have a natural rhythm, and I'm not pushing beyond that which I have tended to do in my life, working with tech companies, and just trying to kind of be a super woman at certain times, the more I can really honor what is true for me, especially in my early 40s, and not in my 30s anymore, the more I have to give, the more value and wisdom and curiosity and passion I can bring to my clients into the companies and leaders that I work with. 12:30 Carley Hauck Some of the refinements of my mind was just having even more gratitude, taking more time and slowness. Really letting myself know that no matter what was happening in life, that I was safe. I think there are some times that I am leading from fear versus I have everything that I need. So just having more and more time to harness this and cultivate this, from a disengagement of social media, of work, was really healing for me. Some of the refinements that I made towards food. This was kind of a blessing and a challenge. Honestly, during my entire three months, the food in Costa Rica in my experience in comparison to the US is pretty basic, it's very pure, which is, which is a positive but can also be a negative. And so therefore, the grocery stores have very basic ingredients, they are importing certain things. But there's so much less selection than what you would find in a grocery store in the US. So the fruits and the vegetables that you can get at the farmers markets or even in the grocery stores are different. They're tropical, for example, and I would say mostly the fruits, not the vegetables, but you can find papayas and mangoes and passionfruit and watermelon. The vegetables are pretty similar. But one area that made a huge comeback for me was celery. I started actually having celery juice every morning. And that is something that I have continued on since I came back to the US. I have found that that has been really healing for my body. And also based on some of the challenges that you'll hear about that I underwent with water and sanitation. That food actually felt just something that was easy for me to digest. So what I found in living there and working there, which is different than being on retreat, which was a lot of my experience in the last five years, as I've taken the silent time at the end of the year, was that the food was very expensive. And it was expensive to buy. It was expensive to prepare because spices were very expensive. A jar of coconut oil was about $15 US, a jar of peanut butter was $12 and some of this was just based on added taxes so I began really rationing my food. One, it was very basic, two, it was just very expensive. I avoid throwing food out as much as I possibly can, no matter where I'm living, but I did this even more in Costa Rica just due to how expensive everything was. So I ended up actually losing a fair bit of weight that I didn't mean to lose. And some of my refinements for my you know, eating there was as I said celery juice I would have papaya and papaya seeds, which are anti parasitic I would, you know, cook a lot of things ahead of time, even more than I do in the US because I found things actually went bad more quickly. And I think maybe some of that is that it's less genetically modified, I think the storage ability, and also just when you're getting the fruits and vegetables, they're not refrigerated, for example. So they might be getting to you a little bit more ripe. And the other thing that happened while I was in Costa Rica, and this, you know, this goes back to kind of refinements around food is that I unfortunately came down with three stomach bugs, likely parasites, I'm still actually just landing in the US and trying to get a sense of what actually happened to my body. So I will be finding out some more information in this next week. But the water quality, depending on where you are in the country, closer to the ocean, not so great, higher in the mountains much, much better. And I got two different parasites, bugs and my last month, and that just really tipped me over the edge. So while my well being was up-leveled, in certain ways, it was definitely very much downgraded in other ways. But I am coming back with some great learnings. 16:25 Carley Hauck So let's talk about physical activity, what were some of the refinements that I ended up making? Well, it's so interesting, because prior to going to Costa Rica, I've always, you know, had a yoga practice since I was 17. And I definitely prioritize physical well being and daily exercise, but I didn't have access to a gym. So I ended up using rocks for weights. And I found just a lot of natural ways to add weight bearing activity, definitely less than what I would do in the States, but it still at least allowed me to have some muscle tone. So that might be swimming. That might be you know, just, you know, adding more weight to my daily biking. When I was living the last month in Costa Rica I was down on the Caribbean side, and I did not have a car. So I was biking everywhere. And I did that because I was really experimenting with regenerative living. And that will be something that I'll talk just a little bit more about. But what I would say became such an essential thing that I think sometimes we take for granted, was having clean water. The water that I had available to me the last month was purified as much as it could be in the casita that I was renting. But the tap water was very unhealthy. And so as much as I could, I tried to, you know, cook things in the purified water, but based on the fact that I was working remotely, you know, it just took so much more time, how am I going to bathe? How am I gonna brush my teeth, every single thing has to be this filtered water, which just takes a longer process. So I became just so much more aware how important clean water is. I mean, that was always a thing, it's always been something I prioritized in the States, I use a Berkey filter. But when you don't have access to it, you're gonna get sick, and it is really going to negatively impact your well being. The other thing that I really wanted to try on in a deeper way, was living regeneratively when I was living in Costa Rica and this you know, this is a part of well being because if the planet's well being is not prioritized, and our well being is not going to be at the level that it can be we're neither of us are going to flourish because we're all connected. And so again, if the water is not healthy in Costa Costa Rica or wherever you are, then you're not going to be healthy. And so Costa Rica has a real focus on sustainability and I'll be sharing more about that in another podcast. But reusing plastic was a huge priority for me. I did not want to bring in more plastic to this country that frankly doesn't want it, doesn't need it. But with all the tourism and development happening. The tourists are bringing in loads of plastic and the grocery store there. Some grocery stores are giving out plastic bags. So I brought my own bags just like I use in the US. And anything that I had to buy that had plastic I would reuse as basically Tupperware and just take that with me wherever I went. For those of you that may or may not know, only 7% of plastics can actually be recycled. And so much of our plastic use is single use. So it really makes a difference for you to bring Tupperware to recycle, what containers you're using to bring cloth bags, to, you know, have cloth diapers if you can, because so much of this stuff is just going into our water, it's going into our soil, it's going to our air and again, not contributing to our well being or the planet's well being. I ate and bought mostly fruits and vegetables from farmers markets as much as I could. And I shared a car with a friend, which we had only for two weeks. If I had to fly, which we only did once I flew with a local airline, Sansa, which has much smaller planes. So there was less fossil fuels. The last month of my trip, I was biking, I also walked as much as I could. And there you go. That was a way that I limited fossil fuels, and I limited plastic and I ate as much plant based as I possibly could. Because the more we eat whole foods, plant based diets, the more we mitigate climate change and fossil fuels. 21:32 Carley Hauck So let's go into this next section, which is really about what did I learn from the culture of Costa Rica, and the people there around happiness and well being? Well, for those of you that have listened to the podcast for a while, you might remember me mentioning this, but one of the very first classes that I was invited to teach on at Stanford, which was almost 10 years ago was happiness. And I remember reporting at that time that Costa Rica had been noted as one of the happiest countries in the world. It seems kind of funny, to me, even now that I had a class called Happiness. Why do we even have to be taught how to be happy, right? Shouldn't that just come automatically? But as we know, some of our values in the US and in other countries do not focus or prioritize happiness or well being, in fact, we're prioritizing economic development and growth, the GDP, which is not actually correlated with wellbeing, working more, making more money, actually means we have less time for happiness and well being. And since that is the opposite value, and the priority of Costa Rican government and culture, I think we could definitely learn a lot from them. So these are some of the things that Costa Rica has done just in their government structuring that supports well being and happiness. And what I would say too about happiness is that when we think about happiness, it's an emotion. It's fleeting, we might feel really happy when we have a baby, or we get married, or we get that job promotion that we've been wanting for a really long time. But those things are not sustainable. What I would say and this is what I offered to the students in my happiness class at Stanford was contentment is much more realistic. How can we orient and design our lives to be contented versus happy, where we don't have to have these huge surges of experience that create happiness, but rather, we're able to actually feel experience of contentment throughout the day, which is, I feel contented drinking a cup of herbal latte. I feel contented when I exercise in the morning, I feel contented when I look at a body of water. I feel contented when I'm able to talk to my parents every week, right? How are you orienting around contentment versus happiness? So let's take some research backed evidence based practices from Costa Rica on how they have created a more happy culture that prioritizes well being. Well first, happy families are the building blocks of happy societies. And what we found in the research is that children in a two parent home or larger community are better off than not. So you know, people that stay together versus get divorced, the children are happier, as long as those are more healthy relationships, right? Aging parents who live near their children live longer, and children are happier, too. So the family unit is really important to nurture. And this is something that Costa Rica has done right. And how do they do it? They develop local social daily rituals with friends and family, that could look like making a meal together, you know, talking to their neighbors, creating weekly activities, where they're being social, and they're nurturing those connections. A lot of folks might do this in the US as well, but they're doing it daily, they're doing it weekly. And that is creating more wellbeing. It's also important to make friends with your neighbors, people are happiest. Typically, when they socialize with others for anywhere from two to six hours a day has been found in the research, that's going to vary depending on your level of introversion or extroversion. And I would say, Costa Ricans do that pretty regularly. They really emphasize building and sustaining and nurturing their social networks. And they do that, you know, weekly, where Sunday might be family day, or if they're, you know, if you're not close with your family and in physical proximity, how do you really create that with friends that feel like family. Another thing that Costa Ricans do is they eat with their co-workers, they practice their faith. So that could look like meditation, it could be spiritual practice, they're eating at least six to eight servings of fruits and veggies. And research has shown continuously that this increases well being and longevity. So one of the ways that you can do that is you go to the market, for the freshest produce more than once a week, walking and biking there is even better, which is what I was doing throughout the whole three months that I was living there. And as much as I can, when I'm in the States, I go to the local farmers markets. One of the joys of living in California is that there have always been so many incredible local farmer markets that I have been able to frequent during the week, but also on the weekend. And then one of the tenants of well being and happiness is generosity, which is really knowing that you have enough that you can give enough. Costa Rica has been noted, especially in the Nicoya Peninsula, which is on the western side to be one of the Blue Zone areas. And the blue zone basically is a place where folks have been found by research to live 100 years or longer. And there are a couple different places that have been found throughout the world. And I'm not going to focus on all of that right now. But there will be another podcast around Blue Zones, and how to design more of your life, to orient towards some of the essential tips of Blue Zones and why those people are happier and why they're living longer. One of the things that the government in Costa Rica has prioritized has really increased well being and that is investing in education and healthcare. And so that is a little bit different than the states or some other companies that again, are investing in economic development and GDP. But everyone in Costa Rica has access to socialized education and health care. And that allows people to really not go in debt, to learn what they want to learn. And they get to choose what they want to do professionally. And if they don't like something and they've tried it on, they're not in huge amounts of debt. And then they can't pivot to something different. They also have really prioritized health care. So they provide free services of health care, every single person in Costa Rica gets an annual health visit. And what we know is that if we are focusing on treating mental health, physical health, we will actually be having so much more money because we're not having to spend so much money to treat it. And we all know that if we are able to intervene and focus on well being so we don't have these high amounts of heart disease and cancer, then everyone's going to be happier, and their well being will go up. This feels like a no brainer. So what I'm really saying is why don't we prioritize our well being, so that we are not then having to treat the symptoms of disease later on, which is pretty ubiquitous in the States. And then lastly, some of the things that Costa Rica is really focused on instead of economic development is teaching life skills in schools. So for example, financial wellness, civics, and even teaching kids at a young age how to solve life's problems, and how to get along with others. What I have had the privilege and opportunity to really refine and develop through a lot of research, and over 10 years working with different companies and students at Stanford, and Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, is identifying what are these skills that we really need to create these high trust, flourishing human centered organizations. And I do believe that if we were starting to cultivate some of these early on, and not waiting till adulthood, we'd be in a very different situation at work, we'd have this foundation that we just need refreshers for. And so I am really excited to teach this to adults now, but then to have them start to share it with their kids, have it be offered in schools, and some of these things are already being offered now, which is great. 31:35 Carley Hauck So as I wrap this solo podcast up, I wanted to give you some prompts for how can you design a more contented life, where you're focusing on your well being as the essential for 2023. So let's start with financial wellness, because that is a compartment of well being. We have our psychological, we have our social, we have our physical, and we have our financial. So with the recession, top of mind for some folks, you know, and inflation rising, financial well being might be a little bit more on your radar than it has in the past. So are you living within your means? Are you delaying gratification for what you need versus what you want? Are you really noticing what's coming in and what's going out? There's going to be another podcast episode that I will be releasing soon, that will help you focus on this. So stay tuned. How are you prioritizing nourishing family or friend time this is focusing on our social well being? Are you orienting your life around spending time with loved ones? With yearly trips, vacations, family dinners? How are you doing that? Now let's focus on physical well being- food as medicine? Are you eating five to seven fruits and veggies every day? Are you prioritizing a mostly whole foods plant based diet? Again, this has been shown by the research to increase people's level of well being and happiness by staggering amounts. It is also one of the easiest ways that we can mitigate climate change. And then, psychological well being. Have you started a regular meditation practice? Are you incorporating different aspects to invest in faith or spiritual nourishment? Prioritizing 15 minutes a day is going to really support you in cultivating more gratitude, more self belonging, more empathy, it will, up level, so many different skills that you can bring to your relationships, to work, to your life. So as part of psychological well being, I really think of it as taking time for reflection, for journaling, for spiritual practice, it could be meditation, it could be prayer, but it's really a time that you are focusing on your inner nourishment. And a big part of what I write about and what this podcast is oriented towards is how are we increasing our skills to be conscious, inclusive leaders but also people and I have developed this framework called the inner game, which has come from over 10 years of working with lots of different leaders and companies and then doing research on these competencies. And what I've narrowed it down to is nine different leadership competencies and I call them leadership competencies because we all are leaders or leaders at home We're leaders in our communities, we're leaders at work. And the nine are all things that some of us have. And some of us have greater levels of, and some of us are weaker and, and the inner game really impacts how we show up in the world. So it is really the core of who you are. And it is our internal operating system. And what I have found in the research is that folks with a stronger inner game have the ability to be with greater complexity, with more compassion, with more resilience, with more fortitude, more courage. And they are the folks that really are able to keep calm and lead well during crisis. And when there's just so much volatility, uncertainty, ambiguity, ambiguity, and that is where we are in the world right now. And I don't actually see the volatility, or the uncertainty or the complexity or ambiguity, being something that lessens over time, I actually just think it's going to increase and so we all have the opportunity, and the need, frankly, to really upgrade our inner game. And so, what is the inner game? What are these nine leadership competencies? Self awareness, self management, empathy, resilience, psychological well being, physical well being humility, self belonging, and mindfulness. And in giving this inner game leadership assessment that I referenced at the beginning, which you're going to have a chance to actually take, I've never offered it to the public before. So this is very exciting. If you go to the show notes, you'll be able to take this free link, so that you can understand where you are falling. You're going to have certain strengths in these nine, and there's going to be other areas where you need to focus but in surveying about 100 different leaders in the last year, the areas that I've seen on average, that are lower are the physical and psychological well being, which is why I really wanted to focus on supporting folks with greater well being in this podcast season, but also self belonging. And self belonging really refers to self love, self compassion, self forgiveness, self acceptance. So again, if you want to learn where your inner game is, there will be a link in the show notes for you to take. And why this is so important is because the inner game really impacts the outer game. So the outer game is how we're showing up at work in life. And from my experience, leading conscious leadership programs, and one particularly with a big financial institution, last year was a six month conscious leadership program. And I surveyed the directors and senior directors, there were 50 of them before the program started. And after the program started, I had two assessments, the inner game leadership assessment, and then the collective trust and wellbeing assessment. And what was really exciting to see is that every leader was invited to increase two to three leadership competencies of the nine I just told you about. And they succeeded in this, but they even because of their high achievers, 89% of the entire group of 50, increased four out of nine inner game leadership competencies. And as a result, that impacted and increased the psychological safety of the group, the relationship mastery, the social sensitivity, and the empathy. Those were the four qualities of the outer game, we could think of it as that impacted the group because of what each of these leaders was focusing on the inside individually. So again, whatever we're working on individually is going to have an impact on the outside, in our social networks, and our relationships. And that's why it's so exciting and so important. So that's a way that I can support you to increase your psychological well being. And if you want to get started on my meditation, I have 15 Free Inner Game Meditations on the resources page of my website carleyhauck.com. So as you think about answering some of these questions, and I'd love for you to go back and write some answers and spend a little time reflecting on this, to really dial in the essentials of your well being for 2023. What are some cues that you can put in place to support this new way of being? Who can support you to be accountable for these new ways of being? And so you heard about some of the refinements that I made in these last three months in Costa Rica. And what is now the challenge for me is really making sure that they become habits in the US. And so I have definitely been practicing them in the last couple of days since I got back. And I plan to continue. And what I have learned from supporting lots of folks, organizationally, but also individually and with teams is that it takes on average, about 10 weeks to create a habit, it's not 30 days, it's not 40 days, the research is pretty clear, 10 weeks, so let's just round that up to three months. And because I got a head start practicing a lot of these things for the last three months in Costa Rica, I feel like some of them are already actually habits. And now I just have to continue them. But I want to set that expectation, so that you can really commit to three months, and then just keep watering that seed and it will become a real habit in your life. 41:16 Carley Hauck So I hope that this was helpful for you. I have a lot of really incredible podcast guests for this season as we really focus on the essentials of wellbeing. And I feel like this is the top priority that I am seeing in the leaders and the organizations that I support. Psychological, physical well being is something that there's definitely been a gap in and it's impacting everything in our life, our relationships, our focus, our energy, our excitement for work for our life. And so I would really love to support you to focus on what is essential to my well being- what do I need to thrive right now? What do I need to thrive today? What do I need to thrive in the next three months, six months in the next year, and just break it down one step at a time. So I would love for you to join me in the rest of the podcast episodes. I will also be doing some more solo podcasts because there was so much that I learned in Costa Rica that I want to share with you. And so those will be sprinkled through. And before I sign off, I am going to make a bold ask. Some of you might have listened to my last podcast episode at the end of 2022. And I mentioned that I am pivoting from leading, leading from wholeness by myself, but really partnering in a deeper way to support greater impact with the gifts and the skills that I have. And this has been something that I have actually been very concentrated on since 2020. But as you know, it's been a really crazy job market. And I am so excited and ready to step into an internal senior people leader role with an amazing team. So that I can influence the greatest good at work and I, I feel like I have so much value to bring. I wrote my book for this time, I really feel confident in what the future of work needs, and I'm ready to serve. So if you are a senior people leader, and you would like support in your talent, leadership development, organizational development, and building this new culture where everyone can thrive, I am your person, please reach out my email is carley@carleyhauck.com. You can find me on LinkedIn. Or if you're listening to this and you know of someone that's hiring for that internal role, please reach out to me and let me know or send me an intro. I would so love to support that I am having some incredible conversations with folks around this role. But you know, it's all about your network. And there might be opportunities that I am not even aware of. And so I would, I would just so appreciate your support, and helping me to step into this next professional path. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We are all in this together and sharing is caring. And if you go to my link www.leadfromlight.net, the link will also be in the show notes, you will receive a free gift on how to create a high trust culture and you will be alerted to all new podcasts. I only send to a month so I'm not going to be bombarding your inbox. And thank you so much for listening, for your attention and until we meet again be the light and shine the light.

What do I need to thrive next year? (Carley Hauck & Marc Champagne)

KYO Conversations

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2022 45:06

Carley Hauck is an acclaimed author, organizational and leadership development consultant, Stanford Instructor, and sought-after speaker who ignites conscious leadership in individuals, teams, and executives to activate business to be a force for good._____Get your copy of Personal Socrates: Better Questions, Better Life Connect with Marc >>> Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter Drop a review and let me know what's resonating with you about the show!Thanks as always for listening and have the best day yet!*Behind the Human is proudly recorded in a Canadian made Loop Phone Booth*Special props

Ignite Your "Inner Game" To Be A Conscious Leader In Your Life: Carley Hauck

Rich Life Lab

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2022 72:34

Carley Hauck is an acclaimed author, organizational and leadership development consultant, Stanford Instructor, sought-after speaker and executive team coach, who ignites conscious leadership in individuals, teams, and executives to activate business to be a force for good.She partners with some of the top organizations in the world supporting psychological safety, trust, inclusive leadership, innovation, and human centered cultures where everyone feels they belong.Carley is the founder of Leading from Wholeness, a leadership and organizational development consulting firm. Her highest values are harmony, service through joy, learning and growth to create positive change in the world. For almost 15 years she has partnered with business stakeholders at leading Fortune 100 companies and high-growth startups to understand their organizational, leadership development, and culture needs including: Capital One, Pixar, Intuit, Bank of the West, Asana, Advent Health, LinkedIn, Clif Bar, HP, Gilead and many others.She has strong expertise in designing and delivering highly effective engaging blended learning programs for high potential senior leaders/teams or specialized business needs. These programs have reached thousands of employees. She has directly coached and mentored several hundred senior executives and mid-level managers across 10 leading organizations to radically improve engagement, inclusion, leadership competencies, and employee resiliency skills. Carley brings a rigorous research approach to her work and all programs delivered, the measures and assessments used have been validated from her early days of consulting on NIH (National Institutes of Health) clinical trials and her work at Stanford University and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Since 2013, Carley has served as an adjunct instructor at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. and facilitates powerful courses on leadership and management.Carley's book SHINE-Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World debuted February 2021 with Sounds True and was named one of the best books to read in 2022 by Mindful magazine.She holds an MA in Organizational Psychology. She is certified in the IEQ-9 Enneagram Leadership Assessment, a Psychological Safety Practitioner with the Fearless Organization, and a certified collective trauma facilitator with Thomas Hubl.Carley loves being outside on the trails in nature, practices yoga and meditation everyday, enjoys cooking healthy plant based meals, singing, SUP and swimming, and engages in ocean and nature conservancy.Show Notes: Carley shares the benefits she's gotten from going on silent retreats [6:05]Clarity of mind and shifting incessant recurring thoughts. [11:47]Carley explains what “Inner game” is from her book “Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World” [15:45]She shares how her childhood influenced her career aspiration [18:17]Carley shares the routine she uses to create a strong conscious mindset every morning [24:30]Where she often sees leaders fall “out of balance” and what the true “power skills” are [35:42]How to confront and work through emotions instead of avoiding them [49:26]An example of a leader with excellent inner and outer game from her book and life [57:45]www.carleyhauck.comCarley's Book: ShineLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/Shine Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca

Look Within for Your Power and Peace

Encouragementology

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2022 43:40

SHOW NOTES: On this show…we are pressing pause on our heat-seeking mission and adopting a new approach - what we seek lies within. Who knew? The books we've read, the miles we've traveled, the mantras we've memorized, and all this time it was closer than our backyard. Our power and peace are actually within us and they've been here the whole time! No sense blaming the snake that could've bit you. Be thankful that you are learning it now with plenty of time to activate them and use them going forward. So many times we are in search of someone to save us, entertain us, inspire us, motivate us, push us, or pull us. We can't seem to get going because we haven't met the right person, read the right book, or heard the right podcast. So we wait, grumble, whine, ruminate, and even get angry. All the while the spigot within us remains untapped. Who couldn't use a little more power and peace? Wait…I said who couldn't, put those hands down. Oh boy, if you're looking for power all you have to do is Google it. Seriously, power, finding your power, being powerful, activating your power, and tapping into your power are all the craze these days. Why do you think that is? I'm assuming it's because a lot of people are feeling pretty powerless these days and are grasping at anything and everything to feel even the least bit empowered. So it's within us? We've had this power all along? You mean I can stop what I'm doing and tap into my power at any moment? Yep. Let's learn a little more and don't forget peace. At the end of the day, it's the only thing that carries us through until tomorrow. Peace and of course Hope. Over at the International Association of Reiki Professionals, I found, Finding Your Power – Laying the Seeds for an Unshakable Foundation Chiara Gizzi shares 3 SIMPLE STEPS TO ACCESS THE POWER WITHIN YOU found at iamfearlessoul.com Fearlessoul - Within Us Ready for a Daily Power Practice? Carley Hauck gives us 10 Steps to Finding Inner Strength Amber Murphy at declutterthemind.com helps us with 15 Ways to Achieve Inner Peace CHALLENGE: Look within to tap into your power and your peace. Build in daily practice so that activating your gifts becomes second nature. Remember to intentionally share these gifts with those you meet to heighten the experience. I Know YOU Can Do It!

google peace seeds international association look within carley hauck

60. The Future Is Up to Humans- Invest in Sustainable Finance with James Regulinkski

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2022 57:31

On this 60th episode of the SHINE podcast, I am delighted to share this amazing interview with a new friend, James Regulinkski of Carbon Collective. Together we talk about the important subject of sustainable finance and investing. In this interview, you will learn how we can 10x our return on investment for climate and the impact of investing in ESGs versus non ESGs and how that supports a world that works for everyone. We also talk about Project Drawdown and how that was a huge inspiration for the mission and vision of Carbon Collective and how they choose their investment portfolios. Lastly, we speak about the special co-founder relationship of James and Zach and the practices James engages in as an early stage entrepreneur to keep his light shining bright. Guest Links: Fossil Free Solutions — www.fossilfreesolutions.org Carbon Collective — https://www.carboncollective.co/ How Banks Could Bail Us Out of the Climate Collective — https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/how-banks-could-bail-us-out-of-the-climate-crisis?mbid=social_twitter&utm_brand=tny&utm_source=twitter&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social Aspiration Bank — https://www.aspiration.com/ Beyond Science Based Targets — https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/beyond_science_based_targets___a_blueprint_for_corporate_action_on_climate_and_nature.pdf Symbrosia — https://symbrosia.co/offsets SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — https://www.leadfromlight.com Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/SHINEbook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck, I am your host. This podcast focuses on the intersection of science, the application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices so that you can cultivate the conscious inner game skills to be the kind of leader our world needs now. Please go over and hit the subscription button so that you don't miss any future episodes and so that you have access to all the wonderful episodes of the past three years. Additionally, go to leadfromlight.com This is my free newsletter that also gives you bi weekly inspiration and alerts you to new podcast episodes. This is the 60th episode. And it will be the last episode for the next couple of months as I regroup and take a well deserved pause. The SHINE podcast has been shining bright since May 2019. And I am delighted to share this amazing interview with a new friend, James Regulinkski of Carbon Collective and we talk about the important subject of sustainable finance and investing. In this interview, you will learn how we can 10x our return on investment for climate and the impact of investing in ESGs versus non ESGs and how that supports a world that works for everyone. We'll also talk about Project Drawdown and how that was a huge inspiration for the mission and vision of Carbon Collective and how they choose their investment portfolios. We'll also speak to the special co-founder relationship of James and Zach and what James does as an early stage entrepreneur to keep his light shining bright. The future is up to us humans. I can't wait for you to listen. Thanks so much for being here. Carley Hauck 2:28 Hello, SHINE podcasters thank you so much for joining me and my friend James Regulinkski. He is the co-founder of Carbon Collective. And James, I'm so excited to have this conversation with you. Thanks for joining me. James Regulinkski 2:44 Oh, Carley, thank you so much for having me. This is a pleasure. Carley Hauck 2:46 Well, one of the first questions that I often ask folks, because SHINE is about conscious, inclusive leadership is: what does conscious, inclusive leadership and business mean to you? James Regulinkski 3:05 I love this question. I love to challenge my thoughts on this a lot. And I think my opinion might be a little bit out there. But I guess that will be for all of you to decide. So I think the number one thing that a leader needs to do, which is particularly hard in the US, is to realize that their job is not to lead, their job is to support every other person at the company and the organization. I think with the sort of the culture of the individual, we get hyper focused on what are the superpowers and strengths and talents of leaders? How cool are they? What is Elon Musk gonna say next, what kind of personality do they have? And I think most things happen in the world, because you have an incredible team there. And so, well, my job, my probably my most important job as the founder has been too, to bring the right team together to make these things happen. It's closely followed by making sure that that team has all the resources they need to to thrive, that they don't aren't blocked by things that don't need a block be blocked by that. We haven't created systems that impede them from being the best selves, that we haven't detracted from their life in a way where they can't bring their best selves to work, and that we're using their skills on the right problems. So vision setting can help sort of establish the direction and the momentum of the company and, and the holding, holding different parts of the processes that need to happen so that that people's time is being used effectively and that we're all going in the same direction well, can look a little bit like what we often call that sort of leadership set setting. They're like, Oh, I'm this is the map to where we're going. For us Carbon Collective we talk a lot about the inverted pyramid that as co-founder, as one of the co founders My job is to support and let everyone else stand on my shoulders. Carley Hauck 5:05 Some of the salient things I heard you say, and thank you for that answer, was really creating the atmosphere for your team to thrive, so that they can bring their best selves. And the truth is that we bring our messy selves to right. You know, it's like, it's like, it's not one without the other sometimes. Right? James Regulinkski 5:26 And part of that, exactly, I think it's sometimes similar to parenting, which is like, co-founders can have conflicts, and we fight, but we don't. We don't. Sometimes parents don't resolve their fights in front of their kids. And so kids never see that there is a resolution process. And similarly, Zach and I tried to resolve any problems that we have ever had in the space of the company. So we show how resolution of conflict occurs and what aspiration we have around that. That's a way in which we sort of live that and show our messy selves. I don't pretend I go through my ups and downs cycle, I don't pretend I don't have them. We are initially talking about like, Oh, should I just not come to a morning meeting? If I'm, if I'm having a down day? And the answer is no, absolutely show up. But also let everyone know that this is where you are and what you can and can't do. And that reminds people that having limits stating your limits, communicating those is part of, of giving everyone permission to do that. And if if you're in a place of that's traditionally viewed as a place of power, the example you set probably has more weight than what you say, if I if I tell everyone I'm about to go take a run to deal with anxiety, it's going to be a lot received much more differently, in terms of giving other people's permission to say, oh, there, it's okay to deal with anxiety and not just hold it inside. Then if I say, you know, say nothing about it and have radio silence, or just sort of shutdown and don't respond to people well. Carley Hauck 6:54 Yeah, I love that you're, you're really talking about leading from authenticity from vulnerability. And so that leads me to the next question, you have a very special relationship with your co founders, Zach Stein, and from what I've heard from listening to a couple interviews that you both have done separately, is that you've been childhood friends, I think since you were four, right? You grew up in the Bay area together, you had lots of, yeah, lots of interactions, and then you moved away, because your family went sailing around the South of France, I totally want to hear about that. And then you found each other again, after you came back, something like that? James Regulinkski 7:35 Our dads were friends in college. And so as you know, we were sort of four to 10 ish. We were, you know, at each other's house all the time. And we have great stories of building forts, bailing out tree forts, from our sliding down mountains together, and just being completely silly as kids. And that was, like, you know, one of the one of those friendships that you, you, you hold on to, like, it's, it's formative, if you will. But when we by the time, you know, I left to go sailing around the world with my family, and, and Zach actually came and visited us a couple of times. But, you know, by the time we were in high school, and then college, we were living in different parts of the US and going to school elsewhere. And there was not, you know, we have that we have that gap, you change, you grow. But I did, when I moved back to the Bay Area, I took a job at ALL Power Labs, which was in Berkley, and I was biking home one day, and saw someone coming back for basketball. And he looked really familiar. And I don't remember who said it first, but we started staring at each other. And so we literally ran back into each other on the street, and started discovering who we were as adults and building a new friendship that wasn't based on necessarily just the childhood memories, but seeing where we had come and what we were up to. And then I got pulled into his entrepreneurial journey. And we started another company together. And the growing that we had, while maintaining that friendship made us both, I think, better at leading, better at being part of a company better at being mostly just better at being human and vulnerable. And then growing together and letting someone else sort of push you and and support you. Because I think both of those are necessary. So that was it is a it has been a joy to work with Zach and go through all of those all of the hard times and all of the exhilarating thrilling times. Carley Hauck 9:40 Well, you know, I teach a lot with leaders and teams on creating a foundation of psychological safety. So that trust, innovation, belonging, high performance can really exist. And so what I imagine is there's a real strong level of psychological safety and trust between the two of you because of the longevity of your relationship. And when I speak to psychological safety, it's, you know, maybe there's criticism, maybe, you know, maybe sometimes your real messy selves come through. But there's such a level, and this is my assumption. but there's a level of trust and like, you know what, Zach's kind of being an asshole today, but I really know he's got my back. Yeah, or vice versa, I really know that we will be able to resolve this conflict. And so I feel curious, how do you resolve your conflict? You know, together? You were mentioning that before? And what do you think supports you to do that to come back and say, Hey, we've got the same mission, we're on the same team. Let's, let's let this kind of pass, let it go and get back to what we're here to do. Or I don't know, maybe that's not the narrative you have, maybe it's something different. James Regulinkski 11:00 I mean, for us, we know that we are not going to be successful without each other in this company. And maybe it'll get to a point where one of us could leave in the distant future. And that would be fine. But like, right now, the company is what it is because we both brought our selves to this and what was so valued, like what we valued. I want to take a step back a little bit to talk about how we sort of developed because after that, that hiatus in the friendship, like, you know, as adults, you are a different person than you are as a kid. And so we did intentionally rebuild that space of psychological safety. And it came in a fairly messy process, which I won't describe here because then you know, everyone will be psychoanalyzing me, but be no one wants to hear that, that the details of that drama, but one of the things we stumbled upon is a really great tool for us to, to grow, was we would read books together, we would both we listen to books, we both had a shared Audible account. And there are books on on leadership on communication on psychological safety, whatever the topic was, because we found that one of us would go and read something and get excited about and try to explain it to the other, the other person would be like, Well, I don't see how that fits into my life I like and then starting, the person would have the first person who brought it would be like, I now need to defend this idea. And, and it would become a big issue. If we both read it at the like, one right after the other, and then came and talked about the ideas and how they might or might not fit into our work life or our relationship. That allowed us to sort of step back and be collaborative together on on that and see how it could fit in. So we have our like our list of favorite books that that helped us. And one of them was Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg, yeah, absolutely, which is a treat to listen to, because they'll actually sing some of those goofy songs, which most people tell you to skip over. But anyway, having that shared reading, and then making an aspirational goal of using that in our communication gave us all of these tools to fall back on. Zach also has a lot of talents. But one one that he brought, or one idea that he brought into our relationship was name entertainment. So as we observed something that happened again, and again, we would just give it a name, so we could talk about it. And little tricks like that allowed us to sort of separate out the strong emotional anxiety, tension elements of any issue that came up, which sometimes was interpersonal, strictly. And sometimes we were feeling strong emotions, because we're raising big chunks of money and hiring people and firing people and, and having to make decisions about the fate of the company. And not knowing whether it was right or wrong. So some of it was external, but you'd still have that strong emotional stance and being able to, to really see the other person. And to practice active listening, for example, again, coming out of the shared reading, and being able to know, what, see what the other person was doing in the practice of seeing the other person or of active listening has just allowed us to continue to help each other grow. And like, I know that Zach has made me a better person, a better leader, a better participant in this company, and that is that there's really the foundation of a trust is that at the end of the day, I have seen how Zach has helped me become a better person. And so I can look back at that when I'm having a frustrating interaction or maybe I'm just hungry or maybe I'm fresh, like scared about something or worried about something at work and bringing that into conversation I would I ever need to take a step back and take a step back and can look back at this this now, you know, five years of working together. Six more than that now. Wow. And remembering like all the times that he has, he has been there that we have worked through the difficult thing we have used the skills we have learned to grow. And so that's really cool. And that's how we got there. Carley Hauck 15:02 Thank you. Yeah, that's what I was hearing is that you, while leaders are learners, so you're already doing one of the right things, I also hear that you've been growing your self awareness and therefore able to self manage when those bigger emotions come up and even name, hey, this is happening right now. And what I hear is that you've had different tools to lean on, that have supported you to move through the conflict. So I could go further into leadership, but why don't why don't you tell our listeners that you are the co-founder of the Carbon Collective, which is such a cool business. And it started in 2019, right before the pandemic, so you've had quite, you know, I don't even know what to call that quite a mountain. That's your first starting a new business in the midst of such a pivotal time. James Regulinkski 15:54 Honestly, I think that starting right at the beginning of the pandemic was really for us, it was worked out really well. The whole world changed to remote work, and Zach and I wanted to be working remotely anyway. But it also meant that people were more available for these kinds of interviews. So the start of the business, we didn't know exactly what we were gonna do. It wasn't like we were chatting, like, oh, I have a perfect idea for business. Let's go start this. We were like, we finished up our previous startup, we wrap that up, end of 2019. So really, it was right at the start of 2020. And we knew that we wanted to be working on climate change, we knew we wanted to be building something that was directly impactful to people's lives, and that we could actually manage with the skills and resources we had at the time. So it wasn't like we needed to go learn how to be a chemical engineer to start a product or go find that person that was what is what is with the skills we have now how can we build this. And so really, it started out with just finding exercises, we sent out a survey to everyone we knew and we asked them to send it out to everyone they knew to understand how they related to their anxieties around climate change. We interviewed like 150 people or something both individuals and professionals in the space, trying to understand how they related to the money and their anxieties and climate change and, and their work and sort of this sort of broad space. And we started to come up with ideas that seemed like they might work. And it wasn't until that summer that we started to see how, as a planet, we have all the technologies that we need to solve climate change, but we weren't putting enough money collectively into solving them, we need to be investing about $5 trillion every year. And while that's a large number, it's not an insurmountable number. And well, there's a lot of new technologies that need to be implemented. It is not a novel idea, like go engineer a new thing that has never been seen before, we have all those tools. And so now we just need to direct that towards the solution. And we discovered that people get exhausted by making constant decisions, making frequent decisions every day. And so having one time decisions helps allow you to be more likely to stick with a solution. And all of that came together into this idea, which is what Carbon Collective is, which is an online investment platform that allows individuals to divest their money from fossil fuels, invest in climate solutions, and put pressure on companies. And having that all sort of automatically taken care of for you means that you're not having that one more thing we're like. I'm gonna ignore the fact that my money is fueling the future I'm desperately trying to avoid in every other part of my life. And I don't have to worry about, you know, constantly readjusting or putting pressure, etc, that someone else's, is taking care of that and then sharing that process with me, because I don't think it's enough to say, Oh, we got this where you don't have to think about it, because that's gonna lead to greenwashing that's going to lead to folks not being not understanding how their money or their their their life energy is being put to use. And so we also sort of bring that all out into the open and you can go into our website and find out why we invest in everything we invest in, and how we come across that. As a disclaimer, this is not going to be financial advice. So this is just me talking about the history of our company and our story and our philosophy and so forth. Carley Hauck 19:35 And I'll leave a link in the show notes so people can find Carbon Collective and learn about how they can, you know, get involved and open an account and all of those things. And since you just offered that lovely disclaimer, I will also share that I am a current client of Carbon Collective. And for those of you that are listening to the podcast, one of the things that I have made a commitment and intention for every single one of these episodes, and this is going to be, by the time this airs, it'll be number 60. But I mentioned climate change and every single one of the episodes because that is the largest problem our humanity is facing. And it is why I started the writing of my book SHINE. And therefore why this podcast started, because I was doing a lot of research of leaders and companies that really wanted to reprioritize business so that it was in service of people and planet. And it's really interesting, because I found out about Carbon Collective about a year ago, and I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, who also works in leadership and organizational development consulting. And I won't out him at the moment, but he had just started working at Accenture. And he was saying, you know, Carley, I've got this great 401(k). But it's invested in all these fossil fuels. And it's ridiculous, and this is totally not in alignment with my values. And now I have to do all this extra research. And then I happened to find out about your company. And I thought, Ah, this is awesome. This is awesome. James Regulinkski 21:19 That's probably a good segue for me to also mention that we did just launch a 401k program for companies because most people do most of their investment, they're saving for retirement through a 401k plan if they have one. And they're often very few and very poor choices when it comes to investing with your values on a four with a 401k. Carley Hauck 21:39 So let's talk about it. What is the 401k a Carbon Collective offer? James Regulinkski 21:42 So right now we're offering essentially our same core portfolio theory. And as we watch other investment vehicles in the future, we'll sort of roll those into the plan as well. So the same idea where you divest, reinvest in climate solutions. So it's really a broadly diversified portfolio because most people want to have large market exposure for financial reasons so that they can sort of enjoy track the market and the growth in the market. But they don't want to do that while investing in the things that are actively destroying the planet that they're going to retire into. I mean, how ironic is it that if you have, you know, enough money to retire, but it's in a world where you're where it is, it's a grim, grim version, not the one you imagined when you were doing all that saving? So both divesting from those, and then taking that portion that would have gone to fossil fuels and saying, no, we want to, we want to invest that in the technologies that are actively bringing us to a solution that are transitioning our economy away from needing and relying on fossil fuels. So that is that portion for our in particularly in our robo advisors, or we call our climate solutions fund. And should our common solutions fund is that all of the companies that were identified by Project Drawdown as being- Carley Hauck 23:12 And I know a Project Drawdown is you know what it is, but tell our listeners what project or I can even fill in the blank. What do you think, What would you like to do? James Regulinkski 23:19 I'd love to hear what your answer is. Carley Hauck 23:23 Well, it's going to be short and sweet. But Drawdown is a book, one of the many wonderful books that Paul Hawken wrote. And basically, in that book, he speaks to 100 different ways that we can actually reverse climate change. And so what you said at the beginning of the interview is like, we already have the solutions, we know what to do. It's just that we have to divest from these industries, from these ways of being that are actually not supporting humanity, and the planet to flourish. And Paul's newest book, which I think has gotten a little bit more acclaim, and I think it's really just based on the title, which is Regeneration, the first week that regeneration was out. It was a New York Times bestseller, but that feels much more hopeful than drawdown. Right. And so it's it's essentially the same information, but that's my answer for drawdown. What's your answer? James Regulinkski 24:22 Yeah, I'd say that I'm an engineer by education. So I generally describe it as the open source model that was put together by about 100 or so engineers and scientists, right, I looked at everything we needed to do to get to that point where we're pulling more co2 out of the atmosphere than we're releasing. And that's, to me a very hopeful point to be at, because it is not just sometimes we talked about direct air capture or these things to sort of, or carbon sequestration, where we're saying oh, the technology will allow us to continue businesses you all, but this is a no, we can change everything. And the natural systems that are already in place will do that carbon sequestration for us. But we have to get to a point where we're not producing as much co2, or other greenhouse gasses. And some of the answers that came out of this were a little bit surprising. But all of those answers that companies, publicly traded companies are working on a solution, so their primary work is on one of those spaces we put into our climate solutions fund. Carley Hauck 25:33 Awesome. So for folks that are not maybe as familiar with what ESGs are and investing in ESGs, versus, you know, not investing in ESG is, could you break that down? James Regulinkski 25:41 Yeah, so ESG is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. So I will talk about what it is, why it's better than the status quo and why we need to move beyond it. So ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. And it was developed in response to the industry, people demanding that they have some way of responsible investing. And previously, it had been very hand wavy, what counts as a responsible investment. So a framework was put together, that essentially takes a whole bunch of data and compiles it down to a single score and rates every company on the stock market based off of those three categories. However, if you go to the website of the main data producer, they say there and big font ESG is not a measure of the ethical-ness of a company, they probably don't say ethical this, but it is not the measure of how good a company does. It is a financial risk metric. And so he's saying how much risk is there as it relates to these criterias. So often in these portfolios, they tend to have fewer of the worst actors. So it's an exclusionary filter. So this is why you should, if you have no other choice, choose an ESG, you're going to have less exposure to the worst companies out there. However, many ESG funds end up with companies like Exxon Mobil, and companies that aren't building the world that we are trying to build that's Fossil Free fuel, fossil fuel free, or the world in which we solve climate change and move our economy away where people thrive and the planet thrives. It is often what are the best actors within what are the best actors within a sector. And what are the end which ones sort of aren't the worst. So it has its limitations. Again, if you have no other options, ESG can be a way of being less bad. But you'll still end up with exposure to companies that are not really in alignment with building the future we want to see. Carley Hauck 27:47 I'd like to ask a question, which I think I know the answer to but I'm curious about your perspective. So a company that has invested in becoming B certified right, a B Corp company, they have to hit certain criteria along the ESG. So would you say that if a company for example, Allbirds, I believe is a B Corp. They're then high on the ESG in comparison to a company that hasn't gone through the B Corp certification. James Regulinkski 28:15 Yeah, in that case, though, it has more to do with the rigorousness of the B Corp certification than that there's even a unified, there isn't a unified document that says anyone who has a good that has an ESG score, it means the same thing across datasets. It's not even a consistent score that every one could look at and go, I know how I rank up in a similar way. So well, I love a B2B court certification, and it will push a company to be a lot better. I guess maybe that's the pun they intended. It is not the same to say that if you have a high ESG score that you would do well on all the processes that would take to get the decertification. Carley Hauck 28:56 Okay, so let's talk about Coca Cola and Pepsi. Yeah, because being that I do have a core fund and Carbon Collective I noticed that out of all the portfolios out of the companies in my portfolio, Coca Cola and Pepsi were in there. And I was like, Huh, why have they been chosen? James Regulinkski 29:20 So I'm going to do a little bit nerdy bit about why you see those and why this comes up more than other things. So that when we made the portfolio, the way we constructed it was that we bought it the sector by sector portfolios for each sector of the economy, except for the four highest carbon emitting sectors. And that is why we got rid of fossil fuels and a lot of other bad actors in terms of sort of building the future we wanted to build. And then that percentage we replaced with our climate solutions, which was all because that fund isn't an ETF. You can't go out and buy it. It is visible in your portfolio as individual shares that we're buying on your behalf. However, when we went to go construct the financial sector and the consumer staples sector, there was a bunch of other companies we had to cut out, there was companies that were involved with private prisons, there are companies that are involved in arms manufacturing, and well, those aren't part of our core, we're solving climate change, they're a part of our we don't, we don't see a world in which we want to be investing in these, even though this is our main focus. So there are things that we cut out there exclusionary, that sort of are table stakes of being a decent human, that we had to reconstruct that sector of the economy. So when you look at your full shares, a bunch of companies are hidden in ETS, and you don't see those. And then there are some companies that you see that are visible, because we bought, we built this sort of single stock holding collection. So that said, Coca Cola is in there, because the main thesis of the core portfolio is you're broadly invested in the market, you've cut out the worst actors, and what you're left with are companies where it is which will survive and could thrive in a world where we solve climate change, and are receptive to pressure that are worth spending that time on pressuring them. We don't believe that Exxon Mobil that ConocoPhillips, that these oil producing companies, Dow Industrial that does do manufactures most of the plastic in the world, not the most, but one of the largest that these companies are, are going to be receptive, or that are spending our time and energy trying to change them away from their core business. Right? It's worth it, we don't have enough time, we don't have enough money, we don't have enough resources, to spend all of our effort trying to change these companies to be something completely different from what they are, because there is internal inertia, there is identity wrapped up in it, they're going to be incredibly resistant to change. But we have seen some of these other companies that are what we call the low carbon economy that are sort of their existence is not threatened, like Coca Cola can still make a bubbly, sugary drink. In a world where we solve climate change, that plastic could be a bioplastic and net zero, and the carbon could be pulled out of the atmosphere to fizz the soda and they could source the wine. Carley Hauck 32:22 And you're speaking to why I said Why is Pepsi and Coca Cola and mostly because I'm such an anti plastic person. And when I think about the pounds of plastic that had been put into our oceans, yeah, Coca Cola is in fact responsible for a lot of that. James Regulinkski 32:40 They are. 33% of all plastic production goes to food and packaging, wrappers and containment. We've kind of accepted that as the status quo. And I think we can do a lot better. Like I'll say that straight up. Again, our belief in this case is that the place to stop it in the same way that the place to stop oil is not on the individual level, same buy less oil, it's what stopped producing the oil, let's stop making that economically tenable. In the same way, the pressure where we weren't the standard we take on sort of the petrochemical side, it's not all the people consuming buying and producing that plastic started it's not that people consuming the plastic it's the people producing it. And ultimately, that is the Dow Chemicals of the world, and the Exxon Mobil, Exxon Mobil mix of massive like a massive percentage of the plastic that goes into those bottles. And then we do need collective action outside of any political collective action, and we need personal action on alternatives to plastic for Pepsi and Coke. Compostables, reusable, it's like there's a ton of a ton of good options, then start selling this there's syrup and stuff to a soda, like a fizzy drink fizzy maker at home, like lots of ways that we could reimagine the consumption of beverages. Carley Hauck 34:04 There's also I mean, there's a lot. I mean, it's just going off on a little bit of a tangent. James Regulinkski 34:10 Let's go, let's go deep. Carley Hauck 34:11 Well, I guess, before I go into the tangent, and before I go deeper, I'll just summarize, you've answered really well, what an ESG is, which is the question I had and investing in ESG is versus non investing. And so you're giving some really wonderful examples right now from, you know, the Dow and the Exxon, which is not investing in ESGs, to investing and other portfolio companies that are much more aligned with that. But, you know, one of the things that I think is lovely about living in California is they tend to be trailblazers and some of these systems and even legislature, for example, in January, there was this mandated composting system and program that had to be brought through all of California. And then I saw in the news maybe a few weeks ago that LA has boycotted all plastic like you, they will not give out plastic into go orders in LA. And that started in May of 2022. And so I think we're going to see more and more and more of that where states where cities are creating different rules. And laws essentially said that we are being more mindful of our consumption. James Regulinkski 35:28 And that's why we might be at peak plastic, or close to it. Like there's a positive outlook where, especially on the disposable side, where we've sort of reached our tolerance for it, we've seen what the harm is. And it seems it also is a attractable problem, where oftentimes climate change as a whole feels like an intractable problem. It is so large, it has so many different facets, you know, there's the plastic part of it, there's the transportation part of it, there's the construction part of it, you can, you can get overwhelmed by how many different pieces there are involved. And so I'm excited for what people have pushed for on the plastic front. And when it comes to climate change, it is still not the biggest, like whether you have forks, plastic forks, which I don't think we should have thrown in every to go order. But I also don't think that solving that piece of the problem is enough, or is even the highest leverage point. Now there's a lot of reasons we can do ethical things that are unrelated to climate change. Like there's, as I said before, there's I don't see, I don't want to live in a world with private prison systems. trafficking, human trafficking, there's lots of things that are important to stand that go beyond climate change that we should think about in our lives. And when we make decisions, the way we construct a carbon collective was focused on saying this, this issue affects all other issues, right? And what is the way we can make the biggest difference on this issue, so that we have the most likelihood of having a large lever arm, but all these other, and all these other issues? Carley Hauck 37:08 When I was doing research for my book, I spoke to a wonderful person, she's a Stanford professor, and she does a lot around sustainable finance. Her name's Alicia Seiger, she actually, Alicia, if you're listening, you ended up not making the book, but our conversation definitely hit home. And you when you look at the Sustainable Development Goals, being there, what is it 17 of them, I'm trying to remember 17. She said, If we solved for climate, we would solve for all of them, because they all are impacted by climate. James Regulinkski 37:34 And if we don't solve, which is sometimes more scary, is they exacerbate a lot of a lot of each other a lot of these issues, climate refugee, right? Being a climate refugees will exacerbate like all sorts of I think hate crimes, which I'm really terrified of, or, I mean, what I hope for is that we open up our borders to other people and bring you know welcoming arms as as they deal with the loss of their their land and their livelihoods, etc. But I'm scared about the alternative reality. So that's the sort of the, the nuance of how these play. No, I don't like to leave things on just, we're not leaving yet. But I don't want to just say these negative things and try to rouse climate fear. I think we have the solutions and examples, both on the technological side, but also on the interpersonal side, also on the how do we develop policies that are? And how do we respond? How do we develop that internal empathy, so that we have the strength when there's a big crisis comes up to to share that out trying to do a call back to earlier in the podcast? Carley Hauck 38:40 Well, I love that you just kind of switched gears. And I have just a couple more questions before we end, although I'm sure we could, we could talk for many, many hours. So you just talked about this internal empathy piece, which, in my book, I refer to the inner game a lot in the inner game are these qualities that every person can cultivate, and they're their qualities of consciousness. And so you and I spoke a little bit about this before we hit the record. But the qualities that I focus on are self awareness, emotional intelligence, which incorporates empathy, resilience, which could be growth mindset, well being like how are we taking care of our own well being? And then how do we see that by taking care of ourselves, we're able to therefore take care of others and therefore see the interconnection and how we're taking care of the planet. But then also how are we leading from love and how are we leading from more authenticity and vulnerability, this is all on the inside, and then it shows up on the outside. And so you know, being a co founder being the fact that you started this business in the midst of the pandemic that you are tackling a really big problem with some fabulous solutions. What is the inner game that you have really cultivated on the inside, for example, maybe there's one of those qualities that you feel like, really has you be the leader, and the person that you want to be? James Regulinkski 40:16 As you said, then, I was like, Man, I need to do all of these things. What is this person she's describing right now and how can I be them? But for me, empathy has, as I said before, like my job is about supporting others, empathy is so crucial to that. And realizing, when you're at your limits, goes along with the empathy piece, probably more than any other. So that self awareness, I don't want to focus too much on self awareness, because I think that you, we should also be community aware, and there's like these external paths, the self awareness that should be merged in with that concept. But if I don't know my limits, and I can't, as I talked about earlier, bring that to bear, I can't make space for the empathy that I need to have. And the space we're working in, on climate change is really easy to get overwhelmed by climate anxiety. It's something that is, is very real, and and, you know, is aging us all faster than we can imagine. Because it's an existential problem in a way that we haven't collectively faced many other times. So I, as I said before, I think as a society, and all these questions are kind of as a society, as a society, do we redirect our resources to solving climate change, but also as a society, are we preparing ourselves to to deal with how different the world it's going to be? Carley Hauck 41:55 Yes, the adaptation, the letting go. James Regulinkski 41:58 We talked about solving climate change a lot. But solving climate change isn't getting back to the world that my parents grew up in. But that ship sailed, it's creating a world where we cause as little harm and save and make flourish as much as we can, it's about setting us on a new trajectory that can be really beautiful, to solving climate change could be making, you know, better homes and transportation. And that can be a more joyful, exciting world. But it's also putting us down a path where we do think of ourselves as true stewards of the planet, that it isn't just for us, and how do we create space for the other living creatures here and the other people who aren't rich white Americans, like there's a, a shifting of the consciousness that occurs and like I think of the the internal work I do is sort of like tending to the soil, that I'm going to be one of these plots of land where there's going to be cool new, new realities growing from in the future, and, and taking the time to get to know my limits, and then work on the so I can I can have the space for the empathy is, is how I tend to that soil. And I don't know, investing is all about imagining a better future. And like, when you invest in a house, or you invest in stocks, or a certain company or thing, I think the future is going to look like this. And we can either invest in that future personally, or literally in our investments, and say, I believe the world is going to look like it did for the last 10 years, or I believe it's gonna get worse, or you can say, I believe it's gonna get better, I'm gonna invest like the world is gonna get a whole lot better on all these fronts. And whether you're doing that through self care, or you're doing that with your dollars, I think that that is what's going to allow us to manifest the solutions, or this new world in which we're, we're able to come off this. Carley Hauck 43:44 Yeah, well, I, I heard a lot of things I heard self awareness really allows you to self manage some of the climate anxiety that comes up. And therefore there's a greater self empathy that you're able to have, oh, wow, this is hard. There's a lot of freaking uncertainty, and our planet is on fire. And I don't really know how it's gonna work out. But I know that I'm going to be one of those leaders that's charging a new way forward, and getting us to 10x. You know, our investments in a supportive climate. And, you know, I also felt a ton of climate anxiety. And I wrote the book when Trump was elected because I didn't see a future that I felt excited about. And my nephew also right around the time that I was given the contract for this book. He was four. He looked at me and he said, Auntie Carly, will you help me save the ocean? And I'm like, Ah, I mean, what do you say? You go? No, dude, I'm not doing it, not doing anything. So you're not gonna have it. You're not gonna have coral reefs or dolphins or fish to eat when you're 20. And I did nothing. And I just couldn't. I couldn't say no, I I said yes, yes, yes, I'll help you. And, you know, this is the number one. What's the word? It's the number one concern of young people right now is climate. And, I do see the consciousness rising. It, you know, I mean, it's been four years since I wrote the book, but like, the consciousness of leaders, the consciousness of business is rising. So it's exciting. James Regulinkski 45:32 Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I think what every business really needs to ask itself is what are we doing about climate change. And unfortunately, what that is often led to in the corporate world is making a pledge, making a pledge, it's unenforceable, and that you're going to be out of your role as a sea level person before or board seat before you have to implement. And the pledges are often focused on like the lowest hanging fruit that everyone already knows about. So they tell it saying solar panels, we're going to replace all of our lights with LEDs, or we're going to buy carbon offsets. However, every business has some superpower, they have some reason they exist, there's something they're really good at. And the question I think that is, every business should ask that is far more interesting is how do I take that superpower? How do I take that core competency that we have? And use that to address the problem? Carley Hauck 46:33 For example? What if I was a really large credit card holder? In the US? How could I greatly influence my customers, my shareholders to vote with their dollars and more environmentally, socially? Just ways? I mean, that seems like a perfect opportunity. Right? James Regulinkski 46:55 Right. So in this case, the the large company that has has a bunch of credit card holders who are making purchases every day, so they might say, hey, we could we could build part of our platform to to help people spend, see the impact the environmental impact of the dollars or spend or see how saving money is actually also, you know, consuming less so saving the planet, or we can use the data that we we collect from there to help help everyone help our members understand collectively where the biggest opportunities are, they can have an integrated opportunity to allow their customers to vote on the issues that were most important to and shape how the money that this company is using is being spent and is influencing the rest of the world. From a shareholder perspective, more and more, the companies that are going to win in this political environmental space is by having a stance is by saying this is what we believe. And well, let's let us show you how we believe that. So I think ultimately, you win customers that way. And I think that this company has an opportunity to use their that combination of their data and their presence as this as this provider of financial services to to enable better spending habits for the planet. And that might well have a much larger impact than any amount of commitment to buy zero carbon energy. Carley Hauck 48:22 Totally. I I 100% agree. And you know, two of the companies that I highlight in my book that I did a lot of research that are doing some of that already, Bank of the West Bank, located actually in San Francisco, and they were highly influenced by BNP, which is a very environmentally responsible French bank. Yeah, but Bank of the West and the last year that I was consulting and working for them, they came up with an ATM card that was 1% for the planet. So every single purchase, there was some of that going back towards the planet. And then we think about Salesforce, which is also one of the companies I highlight in the book, you know, Salesforce was having this very large conference called Dreamforce, every year where they'd have 100,000 people descend on the city of San Francisco from all over the world. Well, in 2019, which was the last in person version of this that I was attending. They had a huge focus on the SDGs. And so they were educating all these people on the benefits of actually aligning their business for sustainable development. And I mean, that's just one way to have major influence, in addition to buying the Salesforce, you know, CRM to help small businesses and large businesses. So I think that's kind of speaking to some of the examples that all companies can be leading from that place. James Regulinkski 49:48 Right. And financing companies that deal with finance are shaping what happens. The investments that they're making are saying what is possible and what's impossible the rules they said, around how money is lent could shape whether a renewable energy project gets financed, so we talk a little bit about on the on the lending on the credit card side, but they also have you also have a banking operation, then you have another area where you can help accelerate or make a more positive planet for everyone. And I am inspired by the examples that you're giving about folks, companies who really dig in and say, What can we what can we do? That could, I could talk to you about many more of really exciting places where companies have have stepped up and thought creatively? Carley Hauck 50:35 Awesome. Do you want to tell me one more? James Regulinkski 50:37 Oh, one that I love, it's a little bit dated now. But Interface Carpet was this carpet company that looked at how they could make carpets that had this problem where they just the strict regulations on how much pollutants could come out of the water. And so they made a target to get to the point where they were, water was cleaner coming out of the factory than coming in. So their process actually cleaned the water as opposed to dumped the you know, we're just under the legal limit of whatever toxins were happening. Were in there, they looked at ways to use carpeting as, as more of almost like a service as opposed to as a as a consumable and taking responsibility for the end of life and recycling all their own materials. Now, each of those steps where you say, I'm going to go, and like we are a carpeting company, that we you know, we just provide this thing that gets us to say, oh, no, we are a company that exists in this world of limited resources, how do we make it better? How do we take responsibility for what we have? And not? I will I will pay for someone else to deal with this problem. But I am the ultimate. Carley Hauck 51:54 Yeah, I'm we're taking responsibility, and we're gonna make it a better product. James Regulinkski 51:59 And it's so easy, like we talk about companies as separate entities. But I think it's really, that alienates the reality, which is, companies are made up of individuals. And each of those individuals has a set of beliefs and has a conscience and wants to live in a beautiful world and wants to be actualized as a human being. And so, it's so much easier when we have a bad guy that it's a company. But it also means that it's hard for us to imagine change, because we don't understand how companies think. But I do understand how people think that I can empathize with their struggles and the pressures they're under and maybe help them see a different alternative way of being. Carley Hauck 52:38 And that's why I love working with leaders and supporting teams. And I really feel like the greatest lever I can pull in this lifetime is supporting the shift in the hearts and minds of leaders and businesses. Because just what you said, there is a consciousness. And it can either be for good, or it can be for evil. I mean, I don't like using evil. But let's bring in the Star Wars, I'm definitely on the Skywalker Skywalker path. There we go. Well, James, fellow Jedi. Thank you so much. James Regulinkski 53:16 That was a lot of fun, Carley. Carley Hauck 53:18 Thank you so much, James. I know, again, we could talk about a lot of things. But is there anything else that you'd like to leave folks before we end? James Regulinkski 53:28 I guess the startup hat wearing co-founder part of me is like, one more time if you guys are all interested by what you heard here, go check out Carbon Collective. If you can watch this 401k program, which means you can absolutely if you don't invest personally, you can also help maybe get your company to change how they do their investments. But also, even if you don't check us out, because you want to work with us, there's a lot of resources on our website, there are resources on how you can do this yourself. There are resources on how you can talk about these issues with other folks. We believe that this problem is more important than our success as a business. So we try to be really transparent and give you everyone the tools to be more conscientious about how they use their money, or invest our money. So if it's only to see what those resources are, head over to carbon collective.co. And I hope that it's helpful. Carley Hauck 54:27 Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll leave all those links in the show notes. Thank you, James, for your time, your service, your vision, and creating an easy way for those of us that really care about social justice, environmental responsibility that we can vote with our dollars and support capitalism to be more conscious. There are many links in the show notes and resources. And I've added a few more including this amazing new startup called Symbrosia that actually supports us to have different ways of reducing our carbon footprint through offsets. Lastly, because of my investment, and consulting with Bank of the West for a few years supporting leaders, teams and culture change, I wanted to give them a plug because they really are a wonderful example of a company leading from a higher responsibility to people and planet. I was privileged to support Bank of the West for three and a half years and in October 2018, the bank pledged to provide 1 billion in financing for clean, efficient and renewable energy products over a five year period. Over that five year financing initiative, their customers' demand for sustainable financing exceeded their expectations, and they hit the 1 billion mark more than two years ahead of schedule. As a result of this brave action, the Conservation Alliance, which is a consortium of more than 250 businesses in the outdoors industry, announced that it was ditching Bank of America for Bank of the West based on their divestment of coal, tar sands and Arctic drilling. While banks can often seem like opaque institutions, it's important to remember that everything that banks do is dictated by decisions made by humans, and what humans finance today will define the world we and our children and grandchildren live in tomorrow. I think there's a lot more opportunity for credit card companies, for financial institutions, for tech institutions, to really put their money behind causes that really matter. That's what I'm rooting for. That's what I'm standing for. And as always, thank you so much for listening, for joining this community and I would love to stay connected with you. So please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Carley Hauck and you can also go to my website, carleyhauck.com. Wishing you a wonderful summer and until we meet again you the light and shine the light.

How You Can Protect the Ocean's Health and Marine Life with Lou Cooperhouse of BlueNalu

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2022 49:04

Today's episode is on the important subject of how you can protect the oceans' health and marine life. I've had a major crush on this company, BlueNalu, and you'll finally get to hear why I'm “true blue” for BlueNalu and President & CEO Lou Cooperhouse. We are at the forefront of a generational shift towards healthier, more sustainable eating that is good for people, the planet and accessible to all. BlueNalu is on a mission to be the global leader of cell cultured seafood, and to provide consumers with great tasting, healthy, safe and trusted products that support the sustainability and diversity of our ocean. I talk with Lou about his individual and company core values and how he shows up as a mission driven and consciously inclusive leader. He shares the inspiration of developing BlueNalu, and why we need cell cultured seafood now more than ever. Lou gives a sneak peek of what we can expect, as the company makes it's way onto a plate near you in the very near future. Guest Links: BlueNalu - https://www.bluenalu.com/ BlueNalu on Instagram: instagram.com/BlueNaluInc/ BlueNalu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bluenalu SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — https://www.leadfromlight.com Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the Shine Podcast. I am so happy you're here. My name is Carley Hauck, and I am your host. This podcast focuses on the intersection of science, the application of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices so that you can cultivate what it takes on the inside, the inner game, to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I facilitate two to three episodes a month. And before I introduce this wonderful topic today, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on this Shine Podcast. And if you love this interview, which I am sure you will, please share it with folks that you think will benefit or it will inspire, and write a five star review. All of this helps so much. Thank you, we are in season six of the shine podcast. And this season is really focusing on how we design our lives at work at home, to be in greater harmony, and optimize for the well being of ourselves or communities or co workers, and most importantly, our greatest stakeholder the planet. Today's episode is on the important subject of how you can protect the oceans health and marine life to thrive. Lou Cooperhouse. So I want to tell you all, I have had a major crush on this company, BlueNalu. And as you hear more, you're going to understand why I am true blue for BlueNalu. Carley Hauck 1:55 And I have been waiting patiently yet persistently to have this interview with Lou Copperhouse for over two years. So just to give you a little backstory, I began the podcast over three years ago, it was part of the research I was conducting in order to write my new book Shine, Ignite your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work in the World. And the impetus for writing Shine was because I didn't have any hope for the world that we were living in. The science around climate change was just annihilating. I had nightmares for nights, when I really understood the precipice of what we were standing at, the opportunity to shift it. And so I decided I was going to take a stand for what I could do in this lifetime, to create a world where humans and planet could flourish, where business could be best for the world. And so the way that I've been able to do that is by shifting the hearts and minds of men, women, all people that have influence at the leadership and business level. And I've also amplified those leaders and businesses that are disrupting the old ways, with solutions that will support our thriving through the podcast through my book. And when I think about a business's greatest opportunity to be best for the world, it is a company with a mission and vision like BlueNalu. We are at the forefront of a generational shift towards healthier, more sustainable eating that is good for people good for the planet, and accessible to all. BlueNalu is a cellular agriculture company. Which means that living cells are isolated from fish tissue placed into culture media for proliferation, and then assembled into great tasting fresh and frozen seafood products. BlueNalu whose mission is to be the global leader and sell cultured seafood, providing consumers with great tasting healthy, safe and trusted products that support the sustainability and diversity of our ocean. The interview that you will be listening to is with the president and CEO of BlueNalu, Lou Cooperhouse. I just realized as I was getting ready to record this intro that there's something actually even more special about this company and this leader for me. So one of the catalysts for me writing my book was that seven years ago, I was having a conversation with my nephew. His name is Cooper. He was four at the time. And as you just heard, Lou Cooperhouse. We've got Cooper twice is the interview I'm about to release to you. Well, Cooper looked at me when he was four. And he said, Auntie Carley, “will you help me save the ocean?” And at that moment in time, I trembled with that responsibility. But I also knew I couldn't say no. And so that actually brought me on the journey that I'm am now. And I believe that this company can help save the ocean. So thanks to Lou, and everyone at BlueNalu. And everybody supporting this company to shine. This one's for you, Cooper. Hi, Shine podcasters I have saved a wonderful leader and interview for you all I found out about Lou and this wonderful company BlueNalu, probably about two years ago. And before my book Shine came out, I sent Lou a copy because he exemplified this conscious, inclusive, mission driven leader, and blue. I'm so happy to have you. Thanks for being here. Lou Cooperhouse 6:11 Thanks, Carley. It's a real honor to be on your podcast. Thank you. Carley Hauck 6:14 So I wanted to ask you one of the first questions that I typically ask leaders and guests here, is what does conscious inclusive leadership mean to you? Lou Cooperhouse 6:25 It's a great question. And, and my career actually spans almost 40 years now. And I've had the fortune to be in a number of leadership positions. But the end the day, it's all about the team, really a team that respects each other, and the team that also represents diversity, diversity of thought, background ideas, and really bring something to the table, but also recognizes that nobody has all the answers. So it's, it's really a spirit of open innovation collaboration, internally and externally, that I've really found to be really, really core to culture, and the values that embody a very successful company, where all of us are leaders, I am obviously the CEO of the company. But really, it's creating leadership at all levels. And also inclusivity, and respect, and communication, and empathy, where we all support each other. So that, you know, literally one plus one equals three and one plus one plus one equals seven, and so on. So so it's really trying to find that that synergy that really comes from an outstanding team. Carley Hauck 7:35 Wonderful. Well, I'm really hearing you focus on the team. How do you create this happy, healthy, thriving team that's really focused on the North Star, because your company is very mission driven. And I'm really excited for you to tell folks more about your your mission and your vision. So let's talk a little bit about how you came to BlueNalu. And you had shared with me before we hit record, there was kind of this like, awakening this, this aha moment, because as you said, you've you've been in the food space for a long time. How did you find your way to this particular company, and this particular focus? Lou Cooperhouse 8:21 I mentioned, I've been in entrepreneurship positions at large companies, including Campbell's and ConAgra and Nestle funded startup and pioneering all kinds of technologies and trends for many, many years in many different categories. A lot of firsts along the way, you know, first application of various technologies, the first products that really leveraged, you know, certain medical nutrition areas like gluten free or, or even diabetes products, you know, some time ago. But my aha moment, you know, really came from the period of 2000, on where I actually was doing a lot of consulting, and my consulting was actually in business incubation entrepreneurship. And during that time, I also started and ran the Rutgers Food Innovation Center, as an executive director of a program that supported many entrepreneurs, and I found myself being nicknamed Mr. Wonderful quite a bit, but never really been satisfied with all the ideas I heard, and really asking everybody about really what what is your differentiation? What is your USP? Why should I care? And along the way, I learned about all with all those happening in alternative protein. I was personally mentoring several clients in plant based categories. And I found some opportunities there, but also some limitations. And I was kind of really fascinated by both precision fermentation, but even more so about self culturing. And I found myself Carley really talking about this and kind of various public presentations about food trends, technologies, and then And there was actually an aha moment, I was actually in Hawaii in 2017. And I was asked to kind of motivate the entrepreneurs in the audience. There's about 300 people at this Hawaii Agricultural Foundation, actually, in Honolulu. And my whole objective there was think big, think differently, you know, really look at export opportunities, and so forth. And I found myself really profiling some most exciting things happened in food tech. And founding, you know, really talking about the space in alternative protein, as the most transformative disruptive thing I've ever seen, arguably, ever in mankind, describing this as the most transformative thing for any industry, very much like computers was in the 70s. Here, 50 years later, still seeing advances there. I said, food tech is the beginning of something that's happening now is very transformative. And you know, that I particularly said, we have a fundamental problem. It's right here, it's called the Pacific Ocean. 70% of our global seafood supply comes from, you know, you know, whatever 2000 mile radius of Hawaii, and this is the global problem, whereas the category began with cell culture in our meat, poultry. My opinion, it was really based on where the science that existed, it wasn't really based on where the market opportunity, where the humanity really needed to make the greatest difference. That was literally making the intersection between cell culturing and seafood. And, you know, I found myself, Carley, interestingly enough, motivating myself to actually do something. So it was really through my own kind of transplant, if you will, and looking at opportunities to really support others that I really said, there's such an a huge opportunity that could be so transformative, disruptive. And I felt that I could do it. And sure enough, shortly thereafter, I managed to an investor and one thing led to the other, and I was the co founder and CEO of what became BlueNalu. And here we are about four and a half years later. And we've come a long way. And we're very excited by what we're able to bring to the market in the coming years. So that aha moment really began from me really identifying something that was really driven by benefits, not just for consumers, but also for animals and the planet. So it was really quite the holy grail moment, if you will, that a single solution. So cultural seafood really solved so many ills on our planet. And it was such a unique a differential opportunity that I put myself in under 10%. To really make this happen. Carley Hauck 12:40 Wonderful. Thank you for that story. And so, you know, based on the research that I've done around cellular, agricultural, specific to seafood, is that when you're creating cultivated meat, and the and you could probably say this better than me, this is this is your area, but we're minimizing animal cruelty, ocean acidification because of the warming of the planet, we're also removing the microplastics, because we're not going to be eating any of that. We don't have to worry about mercury in the food supply. Can you tell us a little bit more about the proprietary technology that allows you to create these stable cell lines, and then is able to, you know, have all these benefits so that people that want to continue to eat fish, and so much of you know, the more Asian countries and Southeast Asia, our you know, one of their major food supplies is fish. How do we actually cultivate it so that it's healthy for people, but it's healthy for the planet? Lou Cooperhouse 13:50 That's great question. I think just to build on your question to you know, I think the problem is, is there's a global problem and challenge with our seafood supply. We literally there's a reason why says market price on a menu versus, you know, a beef or poultry product, which is maybe consistent, you know, all the time with pricing availability. So our supply chain is so fragile, and and is diminishing, it's insecure, it's variable. It's fraught with issues of animal suffering, one to 3 trillion fish are harvested if you will slaughtered each year for human animal consumption. It's the greatest amount of lives last, but there's compromise with mercury, microplastics toxins pollutants, as you've mentioned, are something that's increasingly problematic in our seafood supply. There's even been issues with mercury being found in I'm sorry, with microplastics being found in in blood or lungs, recent reports. So back to your question, when the company began, you know, in in early 2018, we recognize that there were a series of opportunities / challenges to actually Get this get this accomplished. First of all, nobody had ever established stable cell lines of commercial fish species. All the knowledge came from mammalian cell culturing, which is, frankly, why many of the companies began on mammalian cell culture inside. Because the knowledge was there, I followed the market, the market opportunity and opportunity create benefits for consumers and mankind, I felt was far greater with seafood, because we could address human health, animal welfare and global food security, which is really unparalleled versus meat poultry products. So we had to literally propagate fish shells, we tried to melee cell culture, technology did not work. So we have created our own proprietary know how an IP for propagating, you know, several 100 different cell lines to date from multiple species of fish. So we have our whole approach was a platform technology, not a single species, we're also want to focus on a ground informed product, but actually a high value whole muscle product like bluefin tuna, specifically toro, so the high value species a high value part and make this increasingly accessible to all. So as you mentioned, to the global demands an all time high, particularly in Asia, as people are consuming more and more seafood because of the health benefits, but, frankly, is becoming increasingly unhealthy due to all the issues I mentioned. So there is a migration for red meat, there's even a movement called Blue foods, for having people consume more product from the ocean. So all we're doing is just, you know, challenging that fragile ocean ecosystem even more. But to your question, we have created their proprietary cell lines, we have created an animal component free media to support them. We have done this without genetic engineering, or scaffolds or microcarriers. So everything that we're doing tonight was focused on scale production. You know, from day one, this was not about an experiment to really demonstrate proof of concept. It's about proof of scale. And that was really the challenge that all of us face. But even more so in the case of seafood, since it was such an unknown, you know, category when we first began. So so it's really the it's not just the the cell line development, but also the food safe supply chain of raw materials, an analog component free basis, and then actually developing the processes for large scale production. So we've even conducted a techno economic analysis of our own to really understand what large scale production looks like, we have been driven by what the end in mind looks like, from the very beginning of the company, to really think about factories. And, you know, I believe we were the first company even talking about what large scale production might look like, you know, with early factory designs that we put out there and actually stage get approached for what large scale production. So the food industry is all about volume, right. And, and, and that's our goal is to be the first to market with scale, particularly when it comes to seafood. And that's what really motivates all of us is to be really driven by the end in mind, but also recognize all the building blocks that it takes to get there. So an awful lot of proprietary know how that all of us in this category are developing. But our focus is also driven by first of all consumers to have products that have the greatest amount of consumer adoption, and the least amount of regulatory challenges for global adoption. So we're really focusing on species that have global applications. We're also focused on Carley displacing imports and creating more food security. So there are certain species we're not working on at this time, in particular, because we really want to work in partnership with the seafood supply chain. So that's part of our differentiation, too, is to really collaborate with industry, I mentioned earlier on internal collaborations, but also external. So we're really proud of the many partners we developed over the last four and a half years as well. Carley Hauck 19:05 Great. Thank you for answering all of that. And I mean, I think what was so exciting for me about learning more about your, your mission and your, you know, the company a few years ago is, as you said, you know, the ecosystem of the ocean is really struggling. And we as humans are 70% water. So my thought is if we don't protect the oceans, we're not good stewards of the ocean. I mean, we're not gonna be here, you know, humanity's not going to be here, the planet will be a and when I think about, you know, just all the fish that are mostly being circulated in restaurants, it's, you know, it's tuna, as you said, it's Mahi Mahi, it's salmon. These are kind of like this staples that you see over and over and over again. And those those fish a lot of them are farm raised or they're they're really unhealthy and if they're being caught with a net In the ocean, that is, I mean, that's destroying so much of the marine ecosystem. There's bycatch involved in that. And so, you know, I see there being missed opportunity to create cell lines of endangered species, right so that they don't become endangered. Lou Cooperhouse 20:21 That's very true. Yeah, we're there. We're certainly very driven by, by I mentioned kind of my career, you know, even working on products, like even gluten free products. So that was some 25 years ago. Carley Hauck 20:33 I'm gluten free, by the way, really interesting. I can't eat gluten. Lou Cooperhouse 20:37 You'll be happy to know that, you know, kind of my objective way back then, was to really create what I call an oxymoron foods, giving people something that they really emotionally crave. And they value like gluten free lasagna, or mac and cheese, things like that. So when I think about what Lunala is able to do, it's also an oxymoron kind of model. You know, it's able to provide, say, bluefin tuna, what is bluefin tuna? It's, unfortunately, has typically very unsustainable, very high mercury, it's a predatory fish. And it's also comes long distances, has a very poor yield. So we're literally, you know, think about oxymoron, we're able to make a sustainable mercury free, accessible, you know, ultimately affordable product that is available year round. So So you know, and taste just as delicious. So to the foodservice operator, when we learn about say, bluefin tuna, I just can't get it, there's no available supply. And if I do, I don't trust it. It's so variable in quality and color and texture and mouthfeel. You know, you know, and you're saying what, well, you can give me 100% yield available year round, you know, predictable and trusted supply chain, sustainable and healthy for my consumers, without mercury and microplastics. So, you know, we've had such positive reinforcement and all the customer research we've done that really addresses, frankly, unlike terrestrial animals, that we are really solving problems that are felt every day with food service establishments, but also the consumers. We've even learned from consumers who are who most enjoy seafood are most likely to want to select our products over farm raised are wild, because they love seafood. But they're feel a little bit handcuffed to fuel. You know that, you know, you know, I hear about mercury or microplastics. And so we're really solving problems in to both the foodservice operator and the consumer, that's really unique to seafood. So we're excited by that. And again, it's an oxymoron kind of logic here, giving you something that you really didn't think was even possible. Carley Hauck 22:51 Well, that's all really fascinating. I know that you talked about scaling and factories, and I want to come back to that, but I'm gonna actually move us into a little bit of a detour around, you know, how you're leading because you're still, you know, gathering capital, you're definitely early stage, but I see you as a, I don't know, a rocket ship or a what's a ship that can fly that's in the ocean? I don't know, there's, there's there's some some version of that happening now. And there's a lot there's a lot on your plate, there's, there's a pace. This is a very competitive market. And I feel curious, like what's keeping you up at night? If you're willing to share that? And what are some of the practices that are keeping you resilient, positive, healthy, so that you can be the strong leader for yourself, but for your team, and for this mission? So I kind of asked two questions, what's keeping you up at night? And then what are some of the practices that you're leaning on, you know, within yourself to keep showing up every day? And the most resilient way? You can? Lou Cooperhouse 24:04 I think the what keeps me up at night is is, is really, it's all about perseverance and patience, both so you know, coming from the food industry, after all these years, the food industry has really, you know, very fast pace, very much driven by volume and creating consumer benefits and value, differentiating characteristics USP, that unique selling proposition, and it's a really fast pace, where products can be developed in months and I've done that over and over again. So this is not that. This is something that has, if you will, a really long lag phase of development has never been done before. You have challenges of technology, process development, engineering, scale production, regulatory Market communication. In fact, if anything, we have so many benefits that I've described, you know, even how we communicate those benefits, what most resonates, is all part of, you know, how we get to market. And how we do that with partnerships, we can't do this alone. Right? So what, you know what historically, you know, I've been driven by, you know, quickness and speed, and really getting to market with differentiated characteristics, but this is so transformative, so differentiated, and it also takes time. So, you know, there is a requirement for patience, because it's all about doing it, right. You know, we could be driven to be in the market with something that's not scalable, you know, and that's, that's just, that's just wrong. So everything we're doing is really focusing on what it takes to be successful at scale. That's key. And, and so our, our team knows that our investors know that, you know, in our future customers will value that, because we are doing everything that we can possibly do to, again, have the products with the greatest amount of consumer acceptance, you know, really, really, through processes that, again, absent of genetic engineering, or other ingredients that might be considered deleterious or just wrong. So it's all focused on doing it the right way. And the right way, it takes longer, but at the end of the day, it's about large scale production. So everything we're doing is a lag phase, followed by a log phase, you know, a logarithmic growth. So, so we're very excited by what you know, from 2027 to 2040, massive amounts of factories being built around the world. So let's take the time to do it right, and actually go through the incremental stage case to get it right. So what keeps me up at night is just really, you know, maintaining that consistent, incremental progress. It doesn't really keep me up, frankly, because the whole team is really values that and is really engaged in that. And and I know that was one of your questions, and and what was your other one? Carley Hauck 27:10 That's really helpful. And I'll, I'll just, you know, share a reaction. Josh Tetrick is one of the leaders that I highlighted in my book. And so you know, really being with him in the early stages of, of gestede. And they have also been really experimenting with, you know, factories, and I believe it was this week, Josh sends me emails of like, hey, we did this this week. And anyway, he's just kind of letting me know, I am still on the cheerleading side. But he, they, they got a, you know, a lot of a lot of approval with a good meat factory in Singapore, I believe it was last week. And so, yeah, it's like, how do we create this at scale. And what I also hear is, because you've been in the food industry, for 40 years, you've been an entrepreneur, based on your maturity and your tenure, you're able to be in this space of patience and persistence, that maybe a younger leader doesn't have that experience hasn't gone through the roller coaster, so to speak, you know, to really see the the long game and, and you're right, this hasn't ever been done before. And it is a competitive space. And, you know, I think what's happening in in vegan plant based alternative proteins, whatever you want to call it, is there's so many products coming to market right now. And some of them are overly processed or not very healthy. This is not that. And so, yeah, it's gonna take time, and you want the sensory experience to also wow people, right? Like, why would they ever go back to something that wasn't this? So? Lou Cooperhouse 28:54 No, and you're probably familiar probably with that the 80 care needed that now called Charity, that report, you know, maybe three years ago or so. And they actually talked about PLANT BASE being, you know, really critical, but really, as a transitional product and their words, you know, that that cell culture would win in the long game, I think those were there, those are that those are more or less their words as well. I felt that entirely and we're starting to see that now. So plant base is certainly, you know, super beneficial to mankind. It's really bit of a it's an excellent transitional product. And there will continue to be a need and opportunity for plant based products. But unfortunately, many of them did begin something I learned early on with an awful lot of processed ingredients and consumers are where they're there. They're conflicted. So whereas they want to reduce their protein and particular animal protein intake, in particular, you know, but they, you know, but they also don't like to see 2030 Or even more ingredients on a label, and a lot of things they can't pronounce. So the entire Food Industry went to minimal labels, you know, and then all of a sudden, you know, plant based products came out with, you know, maximal labels, if you will, that these two will learn, and now you're starting to see products coming out in the plant based category where they should have originally with, you know, 357 ingredients. And that that will that will be the next generation. But the meantime, yeah, the cell culturing products are increasingly getting more mature. So each us and upside, and you have all of them future and Israel and many other companies around the world are continually moving forward and advancing, developing their commercialization, you know, pathways and timelines and this industry, you know, in just three, five years, you'll start to see the first factories being built. So this is, you know, where we call this a long game, this is not that long, after all, I think we're, we're ahead of the head of the expectation, you know, the amount of, I'm just so excited by how much has evolved, supply chain is becoming food grade, and it's increasingly becoming affordable. You know, and that's something, you know, you're seeing some major players in this space here. We're seeing all the technology being developed, but very importantly, the regulatory climate around the world. It's very motivating, frankly, currently, to see agencies that are very forward thinking, and are very communicative, and even establishing consultative relationships with companies like blue Nalo, he helped me understand this technology, the various ways that can be accomplished, I want to put in the methodology that would enable regulatory approval of these products, whether it's us, Singapore, Japan, Europe, etc. So it's very motivating. Many of them are driven by food security, as well, particularly as Carley Hauck 31:55 to be able to feed all these people on the planet, right? Yeah, totally. Well, it's happening. It's happened. It's happening. It's exciting. So that brings us back to the second question, you know, in order to have the long game and to show up with strength and resilience for the back to back meetings, and I'm sure all the decisions you're having to make, and to continue to earn capital so that you can create this amazing product, like, what are some of the practices that support you to really lead in this way? Lou Cooperhouse 32:30 It's, I think, go back to my earlier comment. So the the first practice, you know, really was, you know, we actually, I actually moved from East Coast to come to San Diego, and the single word that describes why San Diego despite being an amazing place to live and work was actually, you know, workforce. So it's where I could draw a team that had the expertise, and the diversity that will be required for success in cell biology, tissue engineering, and bio processing, market development, regulatory strategy, consumer insights, all the things it takes to be successful. And also, frankly, that I think that culture that thinks San Diego really resonates with innovation, and spirit, and passion, and respect for for our planet. So I was really motivated by coming here. And so so it's really building a team that, you know, is about respects inspiration, passion, culture, empathy. And, you know, recently, Carley, we even introduced our core values, you know, for the company. And the first one was actually be epicurious. So so the epi in there was really a call out to food this is first and foremost, culinary driven, creating products that people will love with no compromise. So enjoy without compromise, you know, reimagining the future of food, you know, being bold, you know, that all of us should really embrace the characteristics of of courage and innovation, problem solving, you know, thinking out of the box taking action, then we also had a value of being a lighthouse, as we called it, being a leader. So we've actually demonstrated a lot of different ways global leadership, you know, really even even nomenclature around this category. You know, we are, we are actually the only company that this at this point in time worldwide that really was trying to help, you know, in the United States, you know, regulatory agencies with appropriate nomenclature to what they're called us product. And we ended up sponsoring third party scientific peer reviewed third party research that determines cell culturing was the most appropriate term. But that leadership is really all about, you know, demonstrating a focus on food safety as well. So called out our commitment to having a company really founded not just on meeting regulatory requirements worldwide, but also what's called GFSI, global food safety initiative, best practices. So these are practices recognized by leading retailers and foodservice operators around the world. So it's all about humility, safety, continuous improvement. And lastly, what we call being true blue, you know, you know, working together as a team with trust, that commitment to sustainability and also respecting our own community, and giving back in various ways that we can as well. So those are the four values of epicurious, being bold, being a lighthouse and being true blue that, you know, we recently launched internally, and we'll be actually communicating that, you know, more broadly in the near future. Carley Hauck 35:53 That's great. I love hearing those values. And so you know, going back to what I was asking around the practice that you're cultivating on the inside that allows you to, to model that, right, so like if you are, and I talked about this in the in the book, and I asked leaders around around that inner game. So one of the qualities of an of the inner game is, is authenticity. So the authenticity that I have of this is what matters to me, this is my truth. And then you're able to be more bold, for example, you're able to be true blue, right, and practicing radical candor. But what I heard that you didn't explicitly say, but you kind of said is that, you know, there's this culture in San Diego. And what I, and I've been there multiple times is, and I shared with you, I'm going to be spending some time there this this summer, but there's a lot of focus on well being right. There's definitely a great appreciation of the natural environment and nature, and there's a lot of healthy food choices there as well. And I think that that is something that I'm hearing is also a value within the company, because you're obviously creating this product, because you're seeing the interconnection of nature, right. And so it's it's like, what are the well being practices that you're actually invested in that your culture that your team is invested in, in? Because in order to be the lighthouse? You have to also nourish that light? Right? So I just feel curious, if you if you're willing to share like, is it? Is it going for a walk every day? Is it meditating? Is it I don't know petting your dog? I don't know, if you have a dog. Lou Cooperhouse 37:40 Well, it's really all of this, I think that we actually are continually looking inward, as well as outward about what we can do to really, you know, embrace enhance those core values that I mentioned. Yeah. And as, as a company, you know, we have such a strong, robust HR team, that's really continually everything from the foods we serve our employees, and the health and well being products, but also our commitment to work in the community. Whether it's beach cleanups, or, you know, community food banks that we volunteered at, but also social gatherings. You know, it's actually our, the four year anniversary, we're celebrating tomorrow. Carley Hauck 38:26 Oh, Congratulations! Lou Cooperhouse 38:28 It was actually June 4 2018, it was June 4, that was the first day of operation where we actually went on the payroll, if you will. So that was kind of a day that we kind of celebrate, you know, so as we look at employees, anniversary dates, myself included, you know, we're all in now in business for years, but for me, it's an extra, you know, almost almost a full year of of getting this organized beforehand. But yeah, so we're constantly out there, you know, celebrating, you know, getting involved, whether it's, you know, fun events, you know, you know, we also celebrate our pets. And we have have, you know, exercise activities at work, walks around the building, but also, you know, some nutritional programs that were implemented as well. So, but you're absolutely right, it's really about, it's such an amazing environment for it really supports well being. And we have just, and frankly, even when we recruit employees, we're really driven by, you know, individuals that are so drawn to, I kind of describe people as authors or editors. So an author really loves to create to really is so motivated and passionate about doing something a balloon is all about. There's never been done before. Some people are resistant to change. We're looking for those people that are just motivated by by creation and change and authorship, if you will have a second and we're looking for people that have the passion that really are driven to make it difference for our planet. Yeah, we're looking for both those qualities. And we're finding that over and over again, you know, and that's really, I'm excited to on your podcast, because we're continually building our team, we're expanding quite a bit this year. In fact, we're now moving into a 40,000 square foot facility here in San Diego. So third building we're in. And we're expanding the team as we prepare for regulatory approval and small scale market launch in the coming years. So it's a very exciting time we're growing, but we're continually drawn by those employees that really, you know, personify those qualities. Carley Hauck 40:37 Yeah, you have a specific culture and people will be a right fit or or not a right fit. When you think about, and I just have maybe like two more questions for you. When you think about the potential of of a product coming out in Southern California for people to try, will that come into the restaurants first? Do you have a sense of when that will be you can give us a sneak peek, and what what type of fish people will get to try? Lou Cooperhouse 41:13 Sure. Kind of the the market opportunity kind of is dependent on on the particular product selected. And we fought so hard, Carley about what species to really launch with. And we looked at attributes that included you know, the potential for global global customer adoption, really addressing issues around sustainability, or the lack thereof today, food security, but also mercury and plastics. And, you know, and also frankly, products that command a premium price point are really highly valued and, and really resonate and represent the quality and the culinary attributes that are so important to us. And that first product will be bluefin tuna, and bluefin tuna is that the highest valued most exciting is the Wagyu beef of the ocean. We've heard from restaurant operators. And you know, and we're specifically working on the twirl the high high fat belly portion of Bluefin that is that is most most culinary, exciting to to restaurant operators and, frankly, where they differentiate. So again, we're driven by all those, those oxymorons, those those attributes that make a difference. And that obviously lends itself to food service. So we'll be launching at restaurants, and also rapids. It also resonates heavily in Asia. So So as you may be familiar, we've actually very proud to have relationships, partnerships that include its Vichy, Sumitomo, and food and life in Japan, Pomona, South Korea, taught Thai union, which is based in Thailand, but also throughout Asia and Europe and US as well. And also Nutreco and Nomad foods in Europe and rich products that Griffith foods United States. So just a series of partners that really support us in all sorts of areas from market insights and intelligence, and potential distribution, but also regulatory insights as well supply chain etc. So so at your question, we are launching with bluefin tuna and foodservice in both the United States and in Asia as quickly as we can, as quickly as we get ready to our approval there. And we will follow that with a series of products to follow. So we are really not about if you will, you know, a single product company, we are all about a platform technology with a broad array of products that will really complete menu. So our future restaurants can not just have one product, but can displace all of their conventional seafood with Lunala seafood, become entirely the cell culture of seafood. products by our peers can displace their entire menus, with alternative proteins soon to be routine protein products on their menu made through cell culturing process. And in terms of timeframe, you know, we're really looking at, you know, just we're just, you know, two years away from some sort of small scale market development, regulatory approval, could be sooner could be a little bit later. But that's kind of a reasonable timeframe. But we're looking at putting a shovel in the ground for a first large scale factory as early as 2025. So you know, and that's, that's probably a good to your projects in itself. So somewhere out 2027 We're looking at large scale factories being built. That's our goal. And we think that can be, you know, multiplied by many factories shortly thereafter. So we're really just, you know, five years away from starting to see some, some significant volumes coming out of factories, and I think we'll see other companies in the category. beef and poultry fall in a very similar timeframe, so not too far away. Carley Hauck 44:56 Yeah. Well, that's incredibly exciting. Thank you. So much. For folks that are listening, how do they support you? How do they support BlueNalu? Lou Cooperhouse 45:07 No, no, thank you so much for Carley for this opportunity to speak to you today on your podcasts. And please follow us on BlueNalu.com, you'll see our social media platforms there as well. And there's also a way to reach out to us with any inquiries you may have. We're all about, you know, collaboration with industry. And we're always looking for partnerships, you know, on the supply, chain side, potential distribution side and everything in between. And we can't do this alone. But on the consumer side, you know, please follow us on various social media platforms. And you know, we're excited to hopefully come to restaurants near you and not too distant future. Carley Hauck 45:50 How wonderful. Well, I think we're all going to be just yeah, so wonderfully impacted by the opportunity here that you're solving. So thank you again, for your strong leadership. And appreciate your time today, Lou. Lou Cooperhouse 46:05 My pleasure, Carley, thank you. Carley Hauck 46:07 Thank you, Lou, for your service, your time, your inspired, conscious, inclusive leadership. And for all of those at Blue Nalu, who are trailblazing and leading the way in this important mission and business. As you heard in the podcast, this is a very special company. And if you want to learn more about BlueNalu, then please check out the link in the show notes. And I'd like to also invite you to think of another way that you could stamp for the protection of ocean and marine life. When we think about the interconnection of our bodies and the planet. The ocean is pretty irrelevant to me. Since we are 70% water and we cannot survive without water, and the ocean is struggling. It has been for a long time, we've been using it as a waste receptacle. When you think about the huge amount of garbage and plastic, the Pacific garbage patch that has been floating. It's about two times the size of Texas when we think about the inhumane, but also just devastating practices of the fishing industry, on the ocean floor and marine life and the ecosystem of the ocean. And if you'd like to learn more about what actually eating fish that is being caught by a net is doing and all the bycatch of dolphins and turtles and sharks that are being caught when you're, for example trying to eat tuna, I would highly encourage you to watch Seaspiracy. It was one of the most watched documentaries on Netflix in 2021. And I had the privilege of meeting one of the executive producers of that film a few weeks ago. Jim Greenbaum I'm giving a little light to you, Jim, thank you so much for your contribution and bringing all of that into the light for us to shift our patterns, our behaviors, so that we too can be supporting people and planet to thrive. As always, thank you so much for tuning in to the shine podcast. And I would love to have you share this with folks and friends. And if you would like to support me and the continuation of these interviews, you can visit my Patreon page patreon.com/carleyhauck. Your generosity helps so much. I have some incredible interviews coming for the remainder of this season. And until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

58. 6 Solutions to Water Conservation with Brian Richter

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2022 78:09

This special edition interview of the SHINE podcast is in honor and gratitude of the earth. We are running out of water for our basic needs. There are activities and systems that may need to be hospiced out in order to reconsider the long term effects of how we're consuming water and energy. Today I am focusing this conversation on the six solutions to water conservation with my friend Brian Richter. Brian Richter has been a global leader in water science and conservation for 40 years. In this interview, Brian shares about his journey and leadership in water stewardship and sustainability. We talk about what the current state is regarding water needs and shortages, and most importantly, how to plan for our water usage as the planet continues to warm and actions we can take to conserve water and ensure there is enough for everyone. Thank you for joining me. Guest Links: Sustainable Waters- sustainablewaters.org. Chasing Water: A Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability by Brian Richter- https://www.sustainablewaters.org/chasing-water/ BBC Documentary David Attenborough on “How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1575870/ Austin's Water Pre-Planning- https://www.sustainablewaters.org/a-water-plan-for-the-22nd-century/ Austin's Great Springs Project- https://greatspringsproject.org/ SHINE podcast “Water Stewardship Creates Necessary Alliances in Leadership and Business with Greg Koch”- https://carleyhauck.com/podcast/45-water-stewardship-create-necessary-alliances-in-leadership-and-business-with-greg-koch “Desalination advances in California despite opponents pushing for alternatives”- https://www.reuters.com/world/us/desalination-advances-california-despite-opponents-pushing-alternatives-2021-07-28/ SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — https://www.leadfromlight.com Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I'm your host, thank you so much for tuning in. This podcast focuses on the intersection of three things: the how to be a conscious, inclusive leader, the recipe for high performing teams creating more psychological safety, trust, innovation, and belonging, and lastly, awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. And when I say the word leader, or leadership, that is a title that we all can step into, because we lead ourselves every day, and how we show up at work, in our relationships with our families, with our friends, with our communities, and around the things that matter most. And so for those of you joining for the first time, welcome, please go over to your favorite podcast subscription button and hit subscribe on the SHINE podcast so that you don't miss any future episodes. We are in season six. And this is a special edition interview in honor and gratitude of the earth, being that it's Earth Day, and I am focusing this conversation on the six solutions to water conservation with my friend Brian Richter. In this interview, Brian shares about his journey and leadership in water stewardship and sustainability for the past 40 years. We talk about what the current state is regarding water needs and shortages, and most importantly, how to plan for our water usage as the planet continues to warm and actions we can take to conserve water and ensure there is enough for everyone. Brian Richter has been a global leader in water science and conservation for more than 30 years. He is the president of sustainable waters, a global organization focused on water scarcity challenges where he promotes sustainable water use and management with governments, corporations, universities and local communities. He previously served as director of the Global Water Program at The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. Brian has consulted on more than 170 water projects worldwide. He serves as a water advisor to some of the world's largest corporations, investment banks, and the United Nations. He also teaches water sustainability at the University of Virginia. And he has developed scientific tools and methods to support river protection and restoration efforts. And lastly, Brian was featured in a BBC documentary with David Attenborough on how many people can live on planet Earth. I learned a lot in this interview, and I feel inspired by the actions we can all take together now. I am delighted to have you. Thanks for listening. Carley Hauck 03:18 Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining my friend Brian Richter, the author of Chasing Water. Brian, thank you so much for being with me today. Brian Richter 03:28 Happy to be here. Carley, looking forward to it. Carley Hauck 03:34 Well, Brian, we just had a lovely conversation before the recording. And I'm really looking forward to talking more about all the things related to water stewardship and scarcity. But before we begin, one of the first questions I often ask my guests is, how would you describe a conscious inclusive leader? What does that mean to you? Brian Richter 03:59 Well, first, the inclusive part. I think that and you know, I'll answer your question through the lens of the work that I do in water, Carley, because inclusivity has really been a big issue. In our dealings with water. Historically, many of the decisions, many of the ideas that are brought forth have been primarily from a fairly limited field of expertise, and specifically from engineers. And that's understandable historically, because a lot of our struggles with trying to make clean water available to people was for a long time, pretty much an engineering challenge. How do you build the pipes? How do you clean the water in treatment plants and that sort of thing? But as the problems associated with water have grown over time as our populations have grown, we've come to realize the importance of having a much more diverse group of people and participants in that conversation about what water do we need? Where do we want to access it from? What are our concerns about it? What are their ideas for making the world better, you know, in the way that we interact with water and water sources. And so in my Chasing Water book, I talk about, you know, the really the need to think about sort of water democracies and communities of water users that share the same water sources, and the importance of opening the doors of the decision making to to really invite a much more diverse audience, either people who need to know or want to know, you know, into that conversation. But then the leadership part, Carley, is also equally if not more important, in many cases. Because there are some really tough decisions, typically that have to be made these days over water. Sometimes it means that somebody might need to be charged a little bit more for the service of bringing clean water to their home. And that's fraught with political peril. Sometimes, well, there's all kinds of decisions around water that may, you know, may have a lot of dissent. Or it may be different opinions, or it may, you know, be difficult for some people to agree with. And so, being bold and leadership is also a really, really important aspect of managing water well. Carley Hauck 06:35 Thank you so much, Brian, that was a great answer. I hear more of the inclusion pieces, the water democracy, but then the leadership piece is really having a consciousness that's really taken care of the greater whole. Yes, yes, just to share a little context with the listeners as to why I really wanted to have this conversation with you. So I moved to North Carolina, and 2020, shortly after the pandemic hit, and I have now relocated back to California in the last few months. And while I was in North Carolina, I was coming back to the west coast for a few months at a time. And every time I came back, I was very aware of how dry it was. And it was interesting to be in Oregon last summer, I timed it perfectly for the fires, I was there for the hottest period of time. And in fact, this is when Greg and I were actually having our conversation around water stewardship. And so Greg referred me to you because he and I had had this really wonderful conversation. And for those of you on the SHINE podcast listening, if you want to listen to that interview, it is on the podcasts, and you can look for it. It's a special edition podcast, because we had such a long conversation. But that would be a good precursor to the conversation I'm going to have with Brian or it can even just be a follow up after you listen to this one. And I think one of the things that has been really important to me is how can we all be good stewards of the planet, in our leadership roles in the way that businesses are acting to be more socially and environmentally responsible? But also as consumers? What can we do? Because I really believe that we all have the opportunity and frankly, the responsibility to lead or we're not going to have a thriving world. You know, I keep seeing books and things out there that say save the planet. I'm like, No, it saved the humans, you know, the planets gonna be here. We have to awaken humanity from its slumber. And so I really wanted to talk to you based on your incredible breadth of knowledge and service, around water scarcity, to just kind of help educate me, bring more awareness, and education to the listeners and also some really important action steps that we can take now. And so, you know, one of the things that was interesting to me is that when I was reading your book, I saw that you grew up in San Diego, and I just shared with you that I'm going to be in San Diego this summer. And as I was looking at my moving to San Diego, I was looking to see, you know what, it doesn't make sense to me. How are they growing all of this food in San Diego? They have tons of farmers markets, more than I've seen pretty much in any other city. Where are they getting that water? San Diego is a desert. So could you talk a little bit about how living in San Diego inspired this path of working and supporting stewardship of water but then also, what do we do about what's going on in Southern California? It's a desert. Right? Brian Richter 10:10 Sure. Yes, . So there was a defining moment in my life, when I decided that I was going to go into the, you know, the professional aspects of water, and it was in the 1970s. And we had at that time, it was the drought of record. And there were mandatory water restrictions being placed on homeowners and businesses in San Diego at that time. And I just remember having this thought, so I was in high school at that time, and, and I remember having this thought that, gosh, if I could develop some expertise, some knowledge about water, I would likely have job security for the rest of my life. And it eventually worked itself out that way. So it most definitely my growing up in San Diego and growing up with that rigidity, the concern over not having enough water to do all the things that we wanted to do in a rapidly growing community that was needing more and more water all the time. Those things all shaped my thinking. And I think position me for the 40 years, you know that I actually have spent, you know, in this profession. Now, to answer your question about what we can do, I think I might start with where I start with my university students. So I teach a class in water sustainability at the University of Virginia. And in the very first week of class, we walked them through an exercise that's intended to help them understand three things. One is that I work them through an exercise where they actually calculate how much water they rely upon, on average, each day of their lives. And it's a very, very eye opening experience, because a lot of them understand that they use water in the shower, they use water for cooking, they use water to wash their clothes and dishes. But until recently, not many people thought about the fact that we also need water to grow our food, we need water to produce our clothing, we need water in so many aspects of our lives. So that initial exercise, using a simple calculator to come up with those numbers is a very, as I said, it's a very interesting exercise for the students to go through. But then the second thing I want them to know about is where's that water coming from? What's your local water supply? What water sources are you depending upon? And are those water sources in good shape? Or not? Or are there problems? Are we using too much of the water? Are we drying up the stream? Are we drying up the underground aquifer? Are we causing too much pollution and that sort of thing. So that's the second part. And then the third part is I want them to increase their awareness and knowledge so that they can become active, informed citizens of their community. And perhaps by extension, you know, of the world, as well. And so a major reason that I wrote the Chasing Water book was to try to provide some basic education about water so that anybody who wanted to learn a little bit more, become a more informed citizen could learn the basics from the book, and understand that this is how problems develop and these are some of the solutions that we can apply. So by being aware of that, both individually, but then also thinking about their community, or, more broadly, I think that will make them a fuller human being, if you will. Carley Hauck 14:00 So those were really wonderful questions that you asked your students and, you know, what are the calculations that you're inviting them to actually figure out what those numbers are? And I would imagine, there's probably a scale of this is a high amount of water consumption, this is a low amount of water, this is moderate, you're doing good, because we will probably want to, you know, have a baseline but then you want to curve our consumption based on whether that's high or low. And what are the water sources are right? Brian Richter 14:34 Yes. Yeah. So there's a couple of things that we follow up on after they've done that basic exercise, then we have some really interesting conversation that gets to. One of the things that this exercise makes them aware of is that different aspects of their lives and their livelihoods results in their depending upon larger volumes of water. So for instance, what stands out for almost all of them is how, how much of their personal water footprint is tied to their food. And, and so they start to realize that boy, depending upon my diet, and what I choose to eat, has a very big influence on how much water My lifestyle is dependent upon. And the students are real quick to make that connection and it causes them to think about, ha, boy, the choices that I'm making have consequences. And that's why it's so important for me to connect them to, where's the water actually coming from that was used to produce the lettuce in your salad, or, you know, the barley in your beer, or, you know, or what have you. And so that's a big part of it. And I also think that when they see how big their overall numbers are, it catalyzes the thinking in them that that's an awful lot of water that each of us depends upon, and we could probably easily find ways to use less. And if they happen to live in a place where water scarcity, where water shortages are a reality, then that sort of self reinforcing awareness or knowledge. Because if they realize how each of our water footprints add up, and that that number, that volume of water that our community depends upon, is is putting a lot of pressure on the local river or the local groundwater aquifer, then they start to connect the dots, that my personal individual actions roll up to my community, which then has a tremendous amount of influence on on the water sources. And so I think that part of that awareness also brings with it an ethic. It's built with the beginning of an ethic about what ethical responsibility means with regards to how we're utilizing our natural resources. Carley Hauck 17:05 Great. Thank you. So that is something we'll pick up again later, you know, in the talk, because I know that you outlined six solutions to water scarcity of water conservation being the number one thing we can do. And that's really what you're inviting this awareness, this education, and then kind of new actions based on the information they're gaining from tracking their water consumption. But I'd like to move into the actual water that we have to use. And you know a lot about this from your work in water in the last 40 years. But I was recently reading an article that came out a few weeks ago, and they were stating that we are going to have a very dry season in the spring. This was noted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it's saying that, in fact, California, which is where I am right now, is returning to severe or extreme drought. And Central California is likely to be the lowest since 1922, 100 years ago. And what's so interesting about that year, is that's also the year when the law of the river was also signed. And that's basically sanctioning the Colorado River, which I learned about from reading your book to seven different states, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah. But as you said, in your book, which I really liked this point, those seven states were basically being given water rights. But that law didn't take into consideration the river's voice itself- did it really want to give away its water. It didn't really think about Mexico. And we know that so much of our food is grown in Mexico as well. So how are they getting water? I'd love it if you could just talk a little bit about, where are we getting the water? And, and even just I think you mentioned it. In the book, you speak a bit about though the water cycles. And I think that would be important for people to understand, you know, water budgets, water supply water withdrawal. Brian Richter 19:26 Yeah. So one of the most, one of the most common questions that I get asked, either by my students or when I give a public presentation, Carley, is how can we possibly be running short of water? Don't we still have the same amount of water on the planet as we've always had? And so it's very understandable. We're taught in grade school that there is this global water cycle, that water is constantly moving around the planet, and there's water evaporating off the surface of the ocean. It goes up into the atmosphere and forms clouds, those clouds are blown over the land, and it comes down as precipitation, it comes down as rain or snow. And that cycle continues to work. And, there is no difference in the total volume of water on the planet as we as there has been for millennia. But the thing that people have to gain some understanding of is that wherever you are in the world, you can't access water from anywhere else and from everywhere else in the world. Okay. Technologically, we could, so we could go to the Congo River and Africa, you're sitting in California, dry California, you could send a tanker ship over to the Congo River and Africa and stick in a hose and fill up the tanker ship and bring it back to California. But the cost of doing so is prohibitive. Okay. So instead of thinking of the whole world, as your water supply, you have to think about the water that's within reach. And by reach I mean, in particular, the water that can be affordably provided to you for your water supply. Okay, so I often talk about it as your local bathtub, you know, it's your bucket of water and, and so now, if, if there's only a certain volume of water that is locally affordably available to then it is possible to use that water source at a rate faster than it's being naturally replenished by that rain or snow. Okay, so, think about it like a bathtub. If you can't turn the water in flow up high enough to keep up with the water going down the drain, then the level in the bathtub goes down over time. And that's basically what happens with all of our water sources, it's a matter of the rate of use as compared to the rate of natural replenishment. Then let's talk a little bit about the inflow into our local water supply, how our local water supplies are being replenished. So historically, we have always had dry periods and wet periods. Everywhere on the planet, you have dry periods and wet periods. And when it gets really dry, we call it a drought. And so there is a cycling, you know that you know, you have this intermittency between wet and dry. We have to be careful not to be using too much water during those dry periods, in particular, because we're not getting enough replenishment. The unfortunate thing about much of the Western US, so let's just say climate change is changing that availability of water, okay. Some places are actually getting, under climate change, some places are actually getting more rainfall. But other places are getting a lot less. Carley Hauck 23:14 Can you name some places, just for our listeners? Brian Richter 23:17 Well, generally the Eastern US, most of the Eastern US is getting more, the same or more. And much of the Western US is getting less than it has historically. And so in much of the West, the climate science is telling us that we're already experiencing less water supply and less replenishment of our water supplies, because of climate change. And it's going to get worse in the coming decades. So in the Colorado River system, they're saying that by mid century, we're going to have 20 to 35% less water coming down the Colorado River system because of climate change. Okay. So a lot of people, a lot of the climate scientists in particular, but a lot of the water managers and people who depend upon the water supplies in the Colorado River, are coming to realize that we used to call this a drought, a dry period. But now it's been 22 years, and they're the driest 22 years in the last 1200 years. So that's the driest period in a very, very long period of time. And, but now they're saying you know what, let's just stop and they were calling the 20s. So because of that they're calling the 22 year, your period of mega drought and a super super drought. But now they're saying let's quit calling it a drought because the pressure from climate change is causing what they're now referring to as long term or ratification, which means it's just getting drier in the background. And that's going to continue because the climate is going to continue to warm. Carley Hauck 25:03 Well, thank you for sharing that. And, you know, one of the things I've also been hearing, and it's been written about is, you know, this summer is the coldest summer you've ever had. Yeah, because every summer, as we continue to warm until we can get to a place, which I'm hopeful of where we can pause, you know, this continual heating of the planet, it's going to take a lot of work. But you know, it's already been proven that we can do it, Paul Hawken in Drawdown and in his new book Regeneration has shown that we can actually pause it, we can reverse climate change, but we all have to get on board. But, you know, even when I was in Bend, Oregon last year, and the whole state of Oregon was on fire, and it was 93, to 108. And Greg, and I just had a conversation, and he had just come back from Washington, where there were fires and smoke. And so, you know, I basically took Bend off my summer travel spot, because I, I couldn't, I couldn't live and flourish in those temperatures. And I actually see it as the new norm. Kind of like what you're saying, you know, we've talked about these mega storms, these mega fires that happen pretty regularly now in California and on the west coast, but I don't think they're a fluke anymore. They are going on for years, unfortunately. Brian Richter 26:32 That's right. Yeah, it is. It's a hard pill to swallow. But it is kind of normal, that life is going to be different now going forward. And you know, and it's a real, it's having it's having really, really terrible consequences, because to your point, Carley, that do, we actually have the knowledge, the technologies, the money to deal with these kinds of problems? Whether it's to arrest climate change, or whether it's to avoid water shortages. We know how to do that. This is a point that Greg brought out in your last interview as well, we know how to solve those problems. The problem is that human beings seem to be innately incapable of responding at the scale and the pace necessary to deal with these problems. It's a very unfortunate, from my 40 years of working in 47 countries around the world, I saw this just happening everywhere that people don't respond to a natural resource calamity, shortage of water, pollution of water, until it gets so bad that it's causing terrible, terrible problems, both for people as well as for the natural environment. And that's extremely unfortunate, it's extremely unfortunate that we can't be a little bit more proactive. So let's just take one, you know, one quick example, in the Colorado River system in the Western United States, in the 1950s, we had practically dried up the entire river system because of our use. Okay. Now, you would think that the people in charge, the political leaders, the water managers would have said, you know, we better be careful about how much extra use of the water we're going to allow. Because if we're already using up the whole river, we could be in really serious trouble if we keep letting you know the need for the water grow. But no constraints were placed on it. There was no limit I talked about in the book, a cap, the concept of a cap. And that just says, you know, here's the reliable water volume that you could safely sustainably use year after year. And you don't want to go more than that. Or you start to have to face some really, really serious problems. But the Colorado River just continued people just they just continued to more people came in more water got used more industries, you know, became dependent upon that water supply, more farms became dependent upon that water supply, to the point where now Carley, we're using more water on average each year, about 20% More water on average every year, then comes down the Colorado River system. And the only way that we can do that is because up until the turn of the century up until about 2000 there was enough water going down the river. And we had built some really gigantic reservoirs, particularly the two biggest reservoirs in America, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. And they hold that together, you know, they hold nearly four years worth of the entire flow of the Colorado River system. So when we got into this period after 2000, which is the beginning of the 22 year mega drought that I was referring to a moment ago, all of a sudden, we're now in three out of four years, we're using more water than came down the river. And the reason we've been able to persist with that behavior for as long as we have is we just keep taking more water out of those reservoirs. It's like overspending your checking account and going into your savings account to replenish it. And so we continue to do that. Now those two reservoirs are between two thirds and three quarters empty. And this year is looking like another terrible year for runoff in the Colorado River system. And so we're getting closer and closer to the brink, we're actually getting closer and closer to drying up the two largest reservoirs in the United States. So and, you know, and arguably, I don't think there's, I don't think there's anybody in the science community or in the conservation community that would, that would, that would disagree with my statement that what's being done in response is nowhere near the scale and the pace necessary to prevent this disaster from unfolding. It's, it's excruciatingly frustrating for somebody like me, who spent 40 years of my life, studying these issues, learning about ways to try to avoid catastrophe, learning a ways to better manage water so that you avoid water scarcity to see this unfolding in the river system that I grew up dependent upon, is terribly gut wrenching. Carley Hauck 32:14 Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. I'm just gonna pause for everyone to listen to that. Yeah. And so, you know, I agree with you. I've been brought in to create a lot of change within leadership within companies. And the only reason that I get called in is because there's enough suffering, and they've hit, you know, a wall of like, we can't, we can't continue to do it this way anymore. You know, these departments aren't getting along, they're not talking to each other. It's having, you know, huge impacts on retention on the culture, people are burned out, there's mental health, you know, whatever. I mean, we look at even the great reset that's happening in companies, people have had it. No, we're at this, we got to create a new foundation of work, a new world. I mean, I really see this moment in time. Just we have to reset everything, including our consumption practices, whether that's, we're eating too much meat, and all that water is going toward livestock and agriculture, like we I mean, it's all connected, and I'd see it, but I agree with you. Oftentimes, we have to hit a certain level of suffering before we're ready to change. And that's one of the reasons I'm having you on the podcast. It's one of the reasons I wrote my book. It's one of the reasons you wrote yours. It's like, let's bring education awareness. Now, before, before we have to really deal with catastrophe was a word that you used. And so, when I even think about being in San Diego, it's beautiful down there. They have tons of farmers markets, right? It's paradise. But it's not because water is not going to be very sustainable. I don't even know where they're getting a lot of that water from right now. It's coming from the reservoir. It sounds like. Brian Richter 34:09 Yes. Well, and so Carley, I wanted to just give emphasis to something the way that you said it, that unfortunately, the moment of breakthrough is when people say we can't keep on going the way that we're going. Right? We just can't keep doing this. It's sort of like when they finally realize that things are breaking apart, you know, that they can see the future and it's dark, it's not good. That's when you have that moment. And that's why, you know, there's this off using oft used phrase, you know, some attributed to, you know, to Confucius about, you know, in crisis is opportunity. Right, but, but what we're saying is it's unfortunate that the crisis has to get so accentuated before those opportunities. Use that awareness, that willingness to say we can't keep doing this the same anymore becomes available. So let's talk a little bit about San Diego. Carley Hauck 35:16 And then let's talk about Texas because so many people have moved to Texas. In some ways, it's a good thing they're moving to Texas because they're moving out of the west where we're running out of water. So it's going to take some of the pressure of the water needs off of the western states. Because yes, now in Texas, but then how do we protect Texas? Brian Richter 35:36 Yes, and it's unfortunately, they're going from one dry place, or one place that has water problems and moving to one that's got them as well, unfortunately. So there's a couple things happening in California, in Southern California that I think are really important. So one is that they have become excellent at the practice of water conservation. So we're just finishing up an exhaustive study of the 30 largest water utilities that use the Colorado River system, including San Diego, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Albuquerque, and so on and so forth. And the fascinating thing, Carley, is that over the last two decades, while the populations have grown substantially, maybe by as much as a third, across those cities, they've been actually actually able to lower their total water use by something like a quarter. That is miraculous success. Okay. So as you know, because you've read my Chasing Water book, I put water conservation sort of in a league of its own, because it is so critically important to addressing these problems that you're talking about. So the fact that these cities have become very good at Water conservation is a good thing. They continue to do better. And that gives me some optimism, they can continue to push water conservation, and get down to their water needs lower and lower and lower. Carley Hauck 37:32 I just want to pause this here, just briefly, just to give California a little a little, you know, woot-woot since I wanted to come back. In January, they have basically input a statewide composting program, which is going to help us you know, regenerate water, it's also going to regenerate the soil, it's going to take the carbon out of the atmosphere, put it in the soil, not in the water, not in the ocean. But even just where I am in the Bay Area. There are so many electric cars, you know, there's so many I hear them all over there. And then there's signs everywhere of severe drought, please conserve water. So you know, those messages make impact. I think they're saying if you see something seven times in marketing, then you take action. They're everywhere. Brian Richter 38:22 Yes. Yeah, that's really good. It is really, really important to communicate that. So that we can do better. Well, yes, they can continue to do better. And there are some new water management strategies that are making a difference. One in particular, is reusing or recycling water after we've used it. Carley Hauck 38:50 Okay, so a gray water system, correct? Brian Richter 38:52 Yeah, yeah, but but even even in a larger, you know, maybe even what you might call an industrial scale. So, this way to think about it, you take a shower, all that water, you know, pretty much all of the water goes down the drain, some of it evaporates off steam, and some of it ends up on your towel, but most of it goes right down the drain. Historically, we would then, if you're in one of those southern California cities like San Diego, that water would have gone down the drain out to a water treatment plant to take some of the impurities out of it and then got flushed out into the ocean. Okay. Now though, this concept of reuse and recycling means that after goes down the drain, they then clean it up to a very, very high level of purity and they're able to put it back into the water supply system. So you have this reuse and recycling of the water taking place and requires them to not have to continually go back to the river or to go to the underground aquifer for more and more water all the time so that reuse and recycling is a very very big and growing part of sustainable water management now. The other one that I think there are a couple of others that are worth mentioning. One is what we call in urban areas stormwater capture. So you think about all the water, all the rainfall that falls on the roofs and on the parking lots and runs down the street and gets into the gutter. And that water to you know, historically would get flushed into some waterway and end up out in the ocean. If you're in a place like San Diego, they're now figuring out how to capture that water and clean it up and put it into the water supply. So they call that stormwater capture. And then the other one is, we talked about this a little bit before the recording is desalination. So desalination is going to expand considerably. Presently, it makes up less than 2% of the world's water supply. And the reason, the primary reason, that it's not a big part of our water supply yet. So just for your listeners, desalination means the salting, which means taking the salt out of salty water, the easiest way to think about it is ocean water. You bring in ocean water, you take the salt out of it, you turn it into freshwater, and you can put it in your water supply system. That process is called desalination. But the primary reason we're not using it very much is because it becomes very expensive. Because that process of taking the salt out of the salty water requires a lot of energy and the energy costs a lot of money. And that makes the water perhaps 10 times more expensive than other sources of water. That's been the primary limiting factor. But there are other big concerns that have to be dealt with. And one of them is in that process of removing the salt. from let's say ocean water, you end up with a half a gallon. So you take one gallon of ocean water, you end up with a half a gallon of fresh water and half a gallon of super concentrated what's called brine, briny solution. Okay, super, super concentrated salt, they then have to figure out some safe way to dispose of that very briny salt, well, salt, concentrated salt. And there are ways of doing it safely. But it can be difficult, and it can also be expensive to do it well. And so that's another inhibitor on the expansion of desalination technology. But anyway, those are some of the ways that these cities are addressing some of these problems. Carley Hauck 42:52 Can I ask you a question about desalination, because I hear that's a possibility to bring more water, but there's actually a plant that is being constructed. I think they've gotten permits. And it's, it's similar to the Poseidon Carlsbad plant, which is, you know, very close to San Diego, since we're talking about San Diego, and that has been operating since 2015. And apparently produces about 50 million gallons of drinking water. So that's about 10% of the San Diego county's water demand. But they're trying to create another one near the Huntington Beach. And I mean, from what I've read about it, the environmentalists are just saying it wreaks havoc on marine life. And it just doesn't seem like an environmentally responsible way. Like it's, you know, it takes larvae and plankton and kit a fish are killed. And I just, there's so many other things that are being harmed in the process of creating these plants, not to mention their billions of dollars. I'm just wondering, can we increase our efforts towards other solutions and such salinization? And I hear you're saying, you know, it's one of the one of the things that's going to be increased? Brian Richter 44:22 Yes. So, Carley, the most important argument against it is just what you just said, we should first use the other readily available solutions to their maximum potential. Okay. Water conservation is by far and away, the least expensive, safest, reliable, sustainable way of dealing with a water shortage challenge. Okay. So in my book, one of my seven principles is to use water conservation to its absolute maximum potential. For that reason, I think, almost everywhere there is an argument to be made to the proponents of other technologies, like desalination proved to us that you've maximized the potential of water conservation first. And once you can credibly prove that to us, then we can have a conversation about the other alternatives. Okay. So that's really, really important. Now. You know, there are places in the world where you know, where they're at that crux point, Carley. Israel is the one that comes immediately to mind. They are by far and away the most water conservative country on the planet. They push water conservation in homes and businesses and farms more successfully than any other country. Carley Hauck 46:01 This is Australia, correct? Brian Richter 46:02 Israel, Israel. Carley Hauck 46:07 One of the leaders in my book has a water sanitation service. And he actually started that when he was in Tel Aviv. So there you go. Brian Richter 46:18 Yeah, there you go. So there's a lot to be learned. Another great book was written by a guy named Seth Segal, he wrote a book called Let There Be Water. And he really chronicles the evolution, the chronology of what Israel has gone through with their water management. And, you know, they're to a point Carley where if they want to allow their population and their economies to grow, and they've pushed water conservation to the max, and they've also, by the way, are pushing water reuse water recycling to the max, then, you know, they can make one of the more compelling arguments that, that they're going to use desalination, you know, to enable them to continue to grow their population in their economy. So, but there, but there are, you know, I would be hard pressed to name another place in the world where they could make as strong of an argument as in Israel, you know, for going through that option. Carley Hauck 47:28 So it sounds like we should look to Israel and model some of what they're doing in the United States, but across the world. Brian Richter 47:42 Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So in Israel, they use the desalinated water only in the cities. And then after the cities have used that water, they treat it and they reuse it out on the farms. And the farms are extremely conservative in how they use water. So it's a pretty efficient system. There's an awful lot to be learned by their example, because they're doing it, you know, they're, they're pushing the level of water conservation in Israel is the gold standard. Carley Hauck 48:08 Thank you. Well, let's move a little bit to Texas, because so many people have moved to Texas in the past two years. And I was recently in Austin, last week visiting a friend and I was actually spending some time with John Mackey, who just stepped down from his CEO role of Whole Foods. And he and is wife Deborah, both of them have been very involved in environmental sustainability around Austin. But Deborah has been part of the Great Springs project, which is really trying to protect the aquifers, the Barton Springs, which is all around Austin. And I couldn't help but think about all the people that are moving to Austin. And how are we going to protect the water there, but not just Austin? Austin, I believe is going to be one of the, I think I have the stats somewhere. Let me pull this up really quick. It's one of the fastest growing cities in Texas, but actually, Houston and Dallas and San Antonio are also really increasing in size. So you know, you had said before, they're moving from a dry area to another dry area. So what can we do as in preparation for the development that's already happening there to make sure that what doesn't happen out here happens there? Brian Richter 49:38 Yes. So as it turns out, Austin is progressive in a lot of things, but they are very impressive in their water planning. And I even wrote a blog about this last year. Austin just completed a new 100 year water supply plan. Most cities at most they'll look at the next 50 years, Austin decided we're gonna look at a whole, you know, a whole 100 years ahead. Carley Hauck 50:08 Yay, Austin! Brian Richter 50:09 Yay, Austin, they do deserve a shout out on this one, Carley. Absolutely. Carley Hauck 50:17 And I want to read your article. And I'm sure listeners would, too, you'll have to send it to me, and I'll link it in the show notes. Brian Richter 50:21 I sure will, I sure will. So they made some very appropriate projections about what climate change is going to do to their water supply, which is, ironically, another river called the Colorado River that flows right through the heart of Austin. The Colorado River, in Texas is used very, very heavily, arguably, too heavily, particularly during drought periods. So they made assumptions about how climate change is going to reduce the flow of the Colorado River, how climate change is going to reduce the natural replenishment of their underground aquifers, and conservative assumptions about how far they can push water conservation and those kinds of things. And they arguably have put forth a 100 year water supply plan that looks like it balances out, even when I looked at it with a very critical eye, a very careful eye, it looks it looks like a good piece of work to me, I think it's convincing that they're going to be able to meet their growth, you know, provided the growth isn't any any stronger than what they're projecting in a water supply plan. But it looks like they might be able to do it. Now. I can't say the same for the other Texas cities, you know, they're there, they're not in that place. And by the way, it's one thing to put something down on paper and a plan, it's another thing to try to implement it. So before we give Austin a full shout out, Carley, you know, the proof is in the pudding. Right? Let's see how they do over the next 5 to 10 years. Because some of their goals are quite ambitious, and they're gonna have to, they're gonna have to move really, really fast in order to live up to it. Carley Hauck 52:05 There is massive growth happening right now. I mean, the estimations are that about 400 people a week are moving to Austin. And just being there, there's not there's not enough properties. So they're having to actually move into the high rises, I can't imagine how else they're housing all these people. Brian Richter 52:21 And I'd be willing to bet Carley, that whatever growth rate was, was forecast in that 100 year water supply plan, the last couple of years, probably just blew it. Because as you said, during the pandemic, there were a lot of people fleeing California, and one of the places they went was Texas, and a lot of went to Montana, you know, in other places, but they're growing, they just got a big surge. And there's some big companies like Tesla that are building new factories, you know, in, you know, outside of Austin as well. So they're gonna need some more. By the way, one of the really important things about good water planning is that you refresh it, you look at it again, on a regular basis. So, you know, they just signed, sealed and delivered the plan, I think last year, they're going to need to look at it within the next five years and see whether or not they're on track. Are they implementing the things they said they're going to implement? Is the growth at the pace that they thought it was going to be? And, you know, and all of that. Carley Hauck 53:20 Well, thank you for sharing more of that. So let's move into the six solutions. And we've been talking about them quite a bit. So you talked about the six solutions to water scarcity, desalinization that we talked about. So this is kind of a last resort. You know, we have to be really focusing on water conservation. We have water importation, water storage, watershed management, and there's one more missing, because that's not six right? 1, 2, 3, 4. So is there one more than I'm leaving out? Brian Richter 53:56 Yeah, water importation, desalinization, water recycling or water reuse, you know, must have been what as well? Carley Hauck 54:05 Yes, I imagine. So you've already kind of spoken to that a bit. So which of these six do you want to go into in more depth? We've already talked a bit about water conservation. We could come back to that? Yeah. What do you think? Brian Richter 54:20 Well, so let's, let's just explain a little bit more about a couple of the others just so that the listeners you know, understand what each of them mean. Okay. So, this concept of water importation is what it suggests: it's importing water from some other place. So earlier I talked about, you know, your bathtub, your water supply comes from your local bathtub. But sometimes, and it's important to us to not use the water in the bathtub faster than it's being replenished. Okay. But one of the ways that you can artificially replenish your bathtub. We already talked about desalination as one way we talked about stormwater capture is another water reuse is arguably another, you know, instead of letting it go down the drain, you just keep putting it back in the bathtub. But there's also this concept of importing water from further away. It's a strategy. It's an idea that's been used for 1000s of years. Remember the Roman aqueducts. When the Roman towns were outgrowing their local water supply, their local bathtubs, they built these elegant engineering structures that could bring in water from another spring or another, another river at some distance 10s of miles away from the Roman town. That's an idea that now has been taken to the extreme in many places in the world. California moves water from Northern California to Southern California. China's completing what they call the South North water diversion project that basically moves water from the southern part of China to the northern part of China. We're doing this, you know, we've been moving water around. And it is, it is a strategy for bolstering your bathtub, you know, for bringing more water in your bathtub. But there's two primary issues on it. One is it again, it takes a lot of energy to move water around. So imported water is expensive water. The other is that in today's world, more and more places are becoming scarce in their available water, the people that live in those places need their available water supply, and they don't want to see some other city or community coming in and sticking a straw in their water supply. And so you have the potential of just spreading and worsening the water scarcity problem, if you're trying to import water from a place that if it's not water scarce, now, the loss of that water to the importing city might cause it to become a water scarce place. So that's not really a good option, it can be used to some limited extent. For some minor fraction of your water supply, but it's not one that you know, it's certainly not one that I advocate for. Again, there are other much, much better ways of trying to bolster your water supply, or reduce how much water you need. Carley Hauck 57:44 And then water storage. That's another one. Brian Richter 57:47 So water storage is really a temporary way of making more water available when you need it. So many places in the world, particularly the places where we grow food, have seasonality in terms of their available water, in terms of, think about it as rainfall. So there's a wet season and there's a dry season, typically, what reservoirs do is that they store up water during the wet season and they hold on to it so that we can use it during the dry season. So it's not a long term way of increasing your water supply. It's just a way of managing it on short timeframes, say from the dry season to the wet season. Maybe if you've got a really big reservoir, it can help go from a wet year to a dry year. But it's not something that's going to bolster your water supply for decades. And that's really important to understand that one. The last one that we haven't touched on is you know, I called it watershed management. And basically the idea is that the amount of water that runs off of the landscape is dependent upon a number of things. It's dependent upon what kind of soils are out there and how much water infiltrates or percolates into the soil. It's also dependent upon what kind of vegetation is out there. Forest grasslands, crop fields. And you can actually change how much water runs off the landscape by changing in particular the vegetation that's growing out there. Now, some places have been able to do this in a way that we might think of as a win-win. So I'll use the example of South Africa. So in South Africa, you know, maybe 100 years ago, they started importing a lot of trees from other places in the world. And particularly they started importing a lot of eucalyptus trees from Australia, into South Africa. It was for windbreaks and for erosion control purposes and that sort of thing, but those, those new trees that were introduced into South Africa took off, they started growing all over the place. They are what we refer to as an invasive species, it just invade. Carley Hauck 1:00:15 There's a lot in South Florida where I grew up. And there's a lot of eucalyptus in the bay area here, too. Brian Richter 1:00:20 Yes. And in San Diego where I grew up, yeah. So it turns out Carley, that those imported trees, those invasive eucalyptus started using a lot more water from the landscape, and had the effect of reducing how much water was running off the landscape and getting into their streams. So it decreased their water supply industry. And so what they're doing now, this is a great example of watershed management, because that unnatural non native vegetation is also not good habitat for the wildlife, the native wildlife there. So they are hiring particularly poor South Africans, giving them some employment opportunities, and hiring them to participate in programs to cut down those invasive eucalyptus trees. And they're seeing very impressive results in terms of more water now flowing in their streams, something on the order of, you know, 20-25% in some of these places. So they're improving the habitat for their need for wildlife, and increasing their water supply at the same time. And so that's a great example of watershed management. Carley Hauck 1:01:41 Thank you. Yeah, well, I could talk to you all day. Okay. But I'd like to kind of hone in on action steps for, for business and for the individual, you know, really focusing on water conservation. So, you know, for drier states, for example, you know, how can we really align our business operations? I don't know, if you do any consulting? And I'm sure you did when you were working at the nature conservation. But, you know, for businesses, how can we really be mindful of how we're using water for our products, or our supply chains? But I'm also just, you know, I talk a lot about how we can reduce our consumption, and that that goes along with water that goes along with, you know, reducing meat and our reliance on agriculture, because that's all taking water that's taking more of our natural resources. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on those. Brian Richter 1:02:50 Yeah, well, two, two thoughts come to mind with respect to businesses and corporate responsibility around water. One is that a lot of companies are doing this and I assisted, and Greg Koch was, you know, an example of one individual who I worked with very closely with him, he was at Coca Cola. And he was in charge of their water stewardship programs. He was one of these individuals within the corporate world, who was aware that the way that they use water could have consequences, or could be risky to the business, if water was becoming scarce, or if there was too much pollution occurring in the area. Being fully aware of all of those kinds of environmental consequences. And that was one thing that, that I and a number of my colleagues worked closely with some of the largest corporations in the world, on walking them through this process of helping them to understand where their business operations were, where their supply chains were, and what was the water situation in those places. Because the first principle with them was, don't be a contributor to a problem, okay? It's not good for your, for your long term, business profitability. And it's not good for your image, you know, in the communities, it's, it's, you know, it's risky to be, you know, in those places, so you have to be aware of that. So that was the first step. And, and then helping them to understand how they could reduce their water needs to the absolute maximum extent whether it was inside their factories inside a bottling plant, or whether it was out in the farm fields where they were producing sugar or other ingredients that go into the product. So, awareness first, where are you and are there problems there. Two, do everything you can to reduce your own influence on that. But the other gigantic challenge for many of these companies right now Carley is because a lot of the places that these people have been operating in may have been okay for decades in the past. But now you're in places like the Colorado River system, the Rio Grande, the Klamath Basin up in Oregon, the Central Valley in California could go on and on. And on the Snake River Basin in Idaho. These are places that where we're now in a situation where we're overusing the available water supply. We're using it faster than it's being replenished. Climate change is making less replenishment available. And we have to do something differently. So we're at that cathartic moment that we talked about a while ago, we have we can't keep doing things, the way that we've been doing. It's important for these big companies, particularly food and beverage producers, to really understand that reality that they may have been doing okay for for past decades, but the future is not good. And they need to think very carefully about whether they can continue to source their ingredients from supply chains that are going through these that are going through these water supply crises. Now, one of the really interesting things that's happening in the agricultural world right now currently, from my perspective, from the water perspective, is a conversation that's emerging about, should we be growing something differently in this place, that uses a lot less water, and yet still provides economic viability for the farmers. Carley Hauck 1:06:48 Like vertical farming? Brian Richter 1:06:50 Vertical farming, but it can also be shifting the crops, you can go from a really water intensive crop, like alfalfa to something else that might use half as much water, you know, on each acre. And then, of course, this is all tied up with the other decisions about what foods are we demanding as a society? And are we demanding foods that require the production of, you know, in areas that are that are water scarce, or experiencing water pollution? So one of the things that's going to be really important is for these corporations to participate in, facilitate and convene a conversation around, okay, if we're all embracing the reality that something's got to change, something's got to give, then let's have a conversation about where what we want are the future of agriculture to look like. Carley Hauck 1:07:44 Right? Yeah, thank you. Well, there's a lot of exciting things happening in food tech right now. And three of the leaders I highlight in the book are really trailblazers in bringing more plant based alternative proteins to market. Just might be a company you are familiar with. It's called the just egg. And it's made completely out of mung beans. Soybean requires a lot less water than a big chicken farm. I believe one egg is seven times the amount of water needs, then, for example, the just egg which is made completely from plant based protein, yes. So we also have to think about the plastic and all the packaging, like there's, there's certain water and production levels, but I'm imagining it's still much less having, you know, these massive chicken farms, which, for one are treated very inhumanely. So I do feel like we're we're creating some different solutions. But as we've already talked about, it needed to happen a long time ago. So we're, you know, we have a certain level of intensity and speed that needs to happen right now. Brian Richter 1:08:56 Exactly. Exactly. Yep. Carley Hauck 1:09:01 Well, in our parting question, what are some things that individuals could do just just like after we get off the call after they get off the call today, for example, you know, if they're trying to understand their water use, and their water consumption, you have a lot of great questions that you talk about in your water conservation section of the book. And so I mean, even just some of the questions I was trying to answer for myself and I and I couldn't, for example, let's see, hear some are there certain times of the year or certain years during which there's insufficient water available for your withdrawal needs in the vicinity of your water use? Who is withdrawing and using the greatest volumes of water? Can you or other water users reduce water withdrawals by implementing more efficient ways to use water? I mean, some of these I can answer for myself, I'm being silly but some people may not know how to do this. And so obviously, we have to look to our cities and even understand our aquifers, overuse, like, how do we learn that information? And how do we be a voice in our communities in our states? If water is not being utilized responsibly, I would like to inspire people to speak up. Brian Richter 1:10:21 Yes, yes. At the risk of sounding self promotional, but I wrote the I wrote the book out of a genuine feeling of a service. Carley Hauck 1:10:34 It's an awesome book, plug the book I have right here. I love it. I've already shared it with a few people. Brian Richter 1:10:40 I did not write it to make money, I genuinely wrote it to try to help educate people. At a very basic level, I kept thinking, how can I say every single sentence in the simplest way possible. And so I don't assume that you know anything about water going into it. But the book can help you not only to understand some things about water, but also help you to understand what some of the questions are that you should be asking of yourself, or asking of your water provider. In terms of some of the questions that you just mentioned, if you live in a city, it's a good idea to figure out who provides your water, who sends your water in the pipes that comes out of your tap, you know, it's not that hard to figure it out, you get a water bill, you know, if you, perhaps if you own your own home, or you're renting, and get a water bill, and that tells you which company is cleaning the water and sending it to you, you know, in your home or business. And then, you know, you can go to their website, or you can just give them a call, and you can have a conversation with them about, hey, here's some questions. I want to know, is my water source being used in a sustainable manner? Have you ever faced problems with water shortages? Have you ever faced problems with pollution? You know, just some really, really basic questions that will help to get you connected to arguably the most important resource in your life, right? Yeah, if we're suddenly going without water. And so it's really essential to just get that connection to know where it's coming from. Whether the provider of that water is doing it in a responsible manner, if the water source is in trouble in some way, those kinds of questions are really, really important. Carley Hauck 1:12:35 Or if it's clean. It's interesting, because when I was living in North Carolina, I actually was looking into how the water was being treated. And it's so interesting, because a lot of people, you know, would talk about, oh, there's fresh spring water. Well, the fresh spring water isn't actually being treated, and it has lots of problems with it. I mean, people were having, what's the word? What's the bacteria? Brian Richter 1:13:03 Giardia. Carley Hauck 1:13:04 Yeah, thank you. But there were also a lot of additional chemicals that were being put in the water that were quite poisonous. That was not happening, where I was living in Oregon and in California. So, you know, again, it's like, why is this happening when this water could be much cleaner? And I use a filtration system. But still, why are we putting these contaminants in the water doesn't make any sense? Brian Richter 1:13:30 Right, right. Yep. Yep. Well, we could do with a lot more ethical responsibility in the world. And we could do with a lot more awareness and learning. And so let's all make it a personal challenge, to learn a little bit more about some of these things that affect our daily lives and then become informed citizens of the world. Carley Hauck 1:13:55 And take wise action. Brian Richter 1:

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57. Combating Climate Change One Bite At a Time with Alejandra Schrader

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2022 52:40

For the remainder of season six of the SHINE podcast, the interviews and focus will point light on how we optimize for our well being and how that is interconnected to the planet's well-being. Today's episode highlights my new friend Alejandra Schrader on combating climate change, one bite at a time. Alejandra and I both had our first books debut in 2021. Alejandra has focused and used her platform to educate and inspire folks with plant based meals, recipes and ways to eat in ways that are sustainable with environmentally friendly farming practices. Her first book, The Low Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Combat Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-based Recipes is amazing. Alejandra and I talk about her mission to support people to be mindful of what they consume, how they consume, and how their cooking can support the health of our bodies and the planet. Guest Links: Alejandra Schrader- https://alejandraschrader.com/ Alejandra on Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chefaleschrader/ The Low Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Combat Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-based Recipes- https://thelow-carboncookbook.com/ Shine Podcast- Taking a Stand for a Good Food System with Bruce Friedrich- https://carleyhauck.com/podcast/54-taking-a-stand-for-a-good-food-system-with-bruce-friedrich Reducetarian Summit- https://www.reducetarian.org/summit-2022 Meat Me Halfway- https://www.meatmehalfway.org/ SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust culture and psychological safety at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — https://www.leadfromlight.com Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, my name is Carley Hauck. I am your host of the SHINE podcast, welcome. This podcast focuses on the intersection of the application of how to be a conscious, inclusive leader, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices, so that you can cultivate a strong inner game. To be the kind of leader our world needs. Now, I facilitate two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our wonderful topic today, please go over to your Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button. This way you don't miss any future interviews. We are in season six of the SHINE podcast. And this season is all about how we optimize to live, work, play, so that we can bring our whole and best selves to our mission, to our life, to our relationships. This includes being mindful of our consumption or energy leaks. And really figuring out how we can have the best performance for our minds, bodies, hearts, how we can support the wellbeing of our communities and our planet. For the remainder of the season, there will be a specific focus on the well being of our bodies and how that's interconnected to the planet's well being. And we will be kicking that off right now with today's episode, Combating Climate Change One Bite at a Time with my new friend Alejandra Schrader. Alejandra and I both had our first books debut in 2021. And we each had a similar mission, and inspiration and writing our books. We were dedicated to awakening humanity, in service of people and planet, and my book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and In the World, I focus on the body of work that I've successfully facilitated, and supported many leaders in business so that they can align with business as a force for good and social and environmental responsible actions. I also highlight in my book three trailblazing leaders and their journeys, and how to promote more vegan, plant based food options to mitigate climate change, and change the food system for good. Alejandra has focused and used her platform for plant based meals that are cooked smart and packed with flavor, nutritional value. She advocates for sustainable diets and environmentally friendly farming practices. And her first book, The Low Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Combat Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-based Recipes is amazing. Alejandra and I talk about what consciousness inclusive leadership means to her, what it looks like in her journey, her mission for really supporting people to be mindful of what they consume, how they consume, and how their cooking can be in the greatest support of the earth and all the resources that we all share. There are some special highlights in this episode, and I would love for you to listen. Thanks for tuning in. Carley Hauck 3:55 Hello, SHINE podcasters. I am delighted to be here with my friend, Alejandra Schrader. And Alejandra, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really looking forward to our conversation. Alejandra Schrader 4:12 Yeah, it's truly a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Carley Hauck 4:15 Yeah, well, I I saw your book and I think I found it because there was a post that you had liked. Bruce Friedrich the president, I don't know what I should call him Grand Puba, he was like all plant based alternative proteins, you know, the Good Food Institute and I saw your book and I thought, look at her. She wrote a recipe book, focused completely on recipes that would lower our carbon footprint. I have got to get to know this woman. So thank you again for writing your new book, The Low Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Combat Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-based Recipes. Before I jump into the motivation for that, one of the first questions that I always ask folks on the SHINE podcast is the question. How do you view being a conscious, inclusive leader? Like what does that mean to you? Alejandra Schrader 5:30 Well, first of all, it means a great sense of responsibility that is driven my by my purpose, by a sense of purpose to leave this planet a better place than I found it. As we will talk later, I have a baby, and I want to make sure that he is able to enjoy a planet in which he can thrive. And by being a conscious leader, I also feel the responsibility to lead by example, to attract more than to promote, to lead the way that I carry myself, that I show up, that I work, and that I communicate in a way that other people feel encouraged and empowered to join me to follow my lead to find their own calling their own purpose, but ultimately to have as a common denominator, the greater good for people and the planet. Carley Hauck 6:36 Lovely, great answer. So I heard, you know, a greater responsibility, and wanting to leave behind a better world really acting and service of the greatest good. Thank you. Well, based on that answer, tell me more about your motivation for writing your book. Alejandra Schrader 7:01 Yes, I think that there are many layers to that. And I would say the first one definitely is my love for Mama Earth, for the planet. And my focus on the subject of sustainability, which I have, since I was a little girl, I would see how our actions impacted, at that time, the environment in which I was in, I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and one of my favorite parks, it's kind of because it's a big city, kind of like New York City. And there's not the same but we have something similar to what will be the Central Park and I remember walking by and seeing how some trees that were in front of a tall building that had many curtain wall, which is that reflective glass, they will be dying. And I would ask my mom like what, you know, why are these three stances so well, you know, because we live in a tropical country and the sun once it hits the facade of the building reflects upon these trees and is too much heat and the trees can handle it and I remember that is you know, sort of blew my mind and I was like well then why why first of all right, they will build this building so close to the park and why would they choose that material that is reflect you know, and I had all these questions. Funny enough, I went on to become an architect. And while I was in architecture school, I went to CyArk a very progressive, designer Oriented Architecture School and I pushed every envelope when it came to sustainability every one of my buildings tried to the design it really tried to use the environment in which was in like that concept that form follows function how can I maximize the intake of air or the exposure of the song and and that was a principle that I didn't carry to everything else I've done in my life. I went to graduate school to do work in urban planning and sustainability was again my like the foundation of my research and my projects. And after an unfortunate event when I lost my career in architecture and urban planning, I am really by a very lucky shot and working in the food world in the culinary world, it only made sense to bring that passion for sustainability. Little did I know really at the time it was only it was so many something like one of those gut feelings that innate like it's just an intuitive thought I need to I need to continue to you know to work this path. Little did I know at the time that genuinely food has this massive effect on on the planet how we produce it. how we shop, how we cook, what we eat, how we dispose of waste our food. You know, food is responsible for over a quarter of all greenhouse gasses. And so again, you know, I'm saying little did I know because I cannot take credit for the for that awareness at the time. But thank goodness, right that sometimes we hear a calling, and we have a sense of strong sense of intuition. And you know, some of us, well, actually, I should say that at that point in my life, I was willing to listen to that. Carley Hauck 10:35 And what I hear is that you had a greater consciousness at a younger age, and you saw the inter-connection of everything from, you know, living spaces to the well being of the planet to the well being of ourselves, our own ecosystem, right? And, yes, it reminds me of the consciousness that I had as a little girl too, because I did not grow up in Venezuela, but I grew up in Florida. And I would take these walks on the beach, St. Augustine, which is one of the oldest cities in the United States. And, you know, Florida has just, I'd say recently, maybe in the last 10 years has started a recycling program, they still do not have a lot of composting at all, which I know you and I are communicating to, we dug about food waste, but I was picking up plastic bottles of the sand whenever I did find any plastic because I knew that a sea turtle was going to see that plastic as a jellyfish and they were going to try to eat it. And so in a similar to you, I just knew like this isn't this isn't right, this isn't supposed to be and it's gonna do more harm than positive. So that was your first layer. Tell me. Alejandra Schrader 11:52 Yes. So the next layer comes after the work that I you know, I don't believe in coincidences anymore. I believe in greater callings on God shots, you know, whatever people want us to define them as, but I sort of fell into this wonderful line of work. And in my work as a chef, and as a culinary professional, where I could help bridge that gap between what people what people eat, and, and where are cooked, where food is coming from how the farmers that are working the land properly, the work of scientists determining what is the best food for planet health and human health. And by working on that I got exposed to a lot of information that at one point, I couldn't unsee. I, you know, I got invited to the United Nations to present the EAT-Lancet report on planetary health. And here I am talking in the great chambers to people about, you know, that we have the power to change that with a shift in our diets to help combat the climate crisis, and I'm passing all these beautiful messages that I've learned. And at the same time I am aware of, especially in the United States, how the industrial industrialized animal production works and how that's so bad for the production of greenhouse gasses, especially methane, it got to a point that I knew too much. And I felt here, here we go again, back to that concept that I couldn't tell people don't eat meat anymore. But I said, You know what, I'm going to stop eating meat, I'm going to transition slowly into a plant based diet for the sake of the planet, and because of all these, all these things that I know that I cannot no longer avoid or turn my back into. And then the third layer, which is a simple one, but very impactful, was my own health. I've always had, since I was six years old, battled with issues of obesity of my body, you know, I tend to gain weight very quickly. There's a lot of third world food insecurity embedded into me and you know, that's a whole conversation, but at one point, I was dealing with really high levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. And this at the same time, right that, you know, again, I'm exposed to these vast amount of information. So I said, I'm gonna give it a try. I'm gonna go plant weeks and three months after I switch to a plant based diet, all of my blood work levels were perfect. Not even decent. They were perfect. And that was that's, that's ultimately what sold me I said, You know what, this again, these are layers. I'm doing it for the planet. I'm doing it for my integrity, but I'm also doing it for my health. Carley Hauck 14:47 Fabulous, thank you. Well, you talk about in, you know, layer two this broken food system, which we're gonna have to be solving and fixing for quite a long time, not just in the United States but all over the world. And then I loved hearing kind of that more personal investment, and the amazing results that you've seen in adopting a plant based, maybe vegan, would you would you say your diet is mostly vegan? Alejandra Schrader 15:17 When I talk about plant based. And I think that there are many definitions out there. But the main difference for me is, as opposed to going to the supermarket and navigating the refrigerated aisles section finding vegan sausage, vegan pizza, vegan chicken, I stay on the perimeters of the store and I really use produce, and vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, algae, fungi, but I eat mushrooms to create beautiful and delicious dishes. And I try to stay away from vegan products that are a little more processed and less healthy. So that's why I like to focus more on the plant based nomenclature, because this is one that I identify more with. Carley Hauck 16:09 And that's helpful, I think, for our listeners, because I think a lot of people can get confused on, okay, what's plant based? What's whole foods? What's vegan? And so that was very specific. I appreciate that. Alejandra Schrader 16:26 Yes. And, and one more piece again, because sometimes people get too hung up, I will, if you will, on the terminology. You know, there's times where I've traveled to the Northern Triangle and Central America to do some work on the field. And there's genuinely nothing else to eat it true story than beans and cheese. And so, you know, if I spent a significant amount of time there, I can only eat so many beans, you know, to sad that there were more vegetables available in a land that is so frugal and fertile. But so there's been times in my plant based diet journey where I have had some dairy, soy mixed in and so on and I think that's another big difference between plant based and vegan is that we avoid animal source products, and focus on a wider variety of plant based ingredients. Carley Hauck 17:23 Wonderful. And I tend to eat very whole food based as well, I love fruits and vegetables. And I'm also not eating dairy products and really limiting my meat sources very much so I can eat in a much similar way. I wanted to talk a little bit about food waste, because this is an area that you focus on a lot in the beginning of the book. And I'm going to actually just take this quote directly from your book, you said, “About 1/3 of the global food supply never gets eaten. Food loss occurs during the post harvest and processing phases of food production, while food waste occurs on the consumption side of food systems. When edible food, when edible, good food goes unconsumed food waste and loss accounts for 6% of all carbon emissions, which is more than three times the global aviation. There are more than 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, co2 due to throwing food away in the garbage and not composting. And Americans throw away about 20% of food that they buy.” And so you and I both live in California. Correct. And what was so encouraging to me was that the beginning of this year, California put a statewide mandate that everybody has to compost. Now I've been composting for a long time, and I imagine that you have to, but I just am so excited about that. Because my hope and desire is that other states are going to follow suit. So let's talk a little bit about food waste. Alejandra Schrader 19:15 Yes. So from the, you know, I wrote, I wrote this book in the second half of 2020. And I just want to update because some of these figures have actually gone up. Some studies show that even up to 40% of the food that Americans are buying are ending up in the trash, which is pretty sad and worrisome. Also the fact that as consumers we really cannot do much about the food that is being lost in the production phase of the food supply chain. Maybe we can do a little bit there are some companies like Imperfect Foods where they try to recuperate some of these, which actually are being thrown away, because most consumers will go to the store and be like, well, this apple is not as big as this other one, or it has a tiny bruise or, you know, or the color has some discoloration. And, you know, and so here's where we as consumers can also become more, you know, more conscious about the food that we demand so that the suppliers don't feel the need to, to let food go to waste. But what we can do, definitely as consumers is then, you know, buy in a conscious way so that we don't have so much stuff at home that a lot of it is, you know, becoming spoiled and having to throw it away, that when we do dine out and we ask for that little bag, or that little box that we actually consume that instead of just tossing it in the trash, and that we do a better job at what I like to say, the utilizing the investment, maximizing the investment that we've made in food. And that's where we get to use ingredients that are ingredients or parts of the plant that are traditionally thrown in the trash. A lot of times I go to the market and my heart shrinks when I see people ripping the greens of carrots and leaving them on the shelves and just taking the carrots home. Or when we get home and we buy these beautiful radishes with radish greens. And usually they get caught off and thrown in the trash. There is a lot of nourishment, a lot of phytochemicals, and good for us stuff and all of these elements that are being thrown away that why I mean, it took a lot of resources for Mother Earth to help you know water, you name it, to help them grow. And so we should find creative ways to utilize them whether we make pesto sauce with the carrot greens, whether we make a chimichurri with the radish greens, whether we actually wash them really well and use them as a salad, make a salsa verde or use them instead of cilantro. And like those two, there are so many, so many ingredients that are being thrown away. That's why I talk about using the plant from root to leaf as much as the plant as we can. That way we honor those resources that went into, into growing them. And there are some studies that talk about how much we can minimize our individual carbon footprints by just doing these small changes. And I think that to me that it just makes me feel like I have so much power, like a lot of people say, Oh, well, you know, I've tried to do something for the environment, I'm gonna start using paper straws. It's not impactful, it's not enough, you know, we can do a lot more. And if we take responsibility for the fact that our actions can make a big difference, I think people will be more likely to make some of these changes at home. Carley Hauck 22:58 Thank you for that, you know, one of the other things that you mentioned is and, and this was something that happened in the midst of a pandemic, you know, a lot of people were getting to-go's right. And so a lot of people were also cooking at home. But I think to add to your point, when you go and you're, you know, buying food from a restaurant, you can actually bring your own container, you know, because the pandemic has definitely calmed down a bit, I think people didn't feel like they can even bring their own container, but you can bring your own container so that we're not continually adding more and more plastic to our soil to our air to our water. And one of the other things that you were mentioning around you know, eating a more plant based diet and whole foods is the link to the carbon that's coming when we're eating more agriculture, or rather livestock. And one of the things that we also need to be mindful of is the water consumption. And so you know, we have an infinite amount of water. And as more and more people are living on this planet, and the more resources that we need to grow food, we need to find ways that are sustainable, to be able to feed everyone and again, you know, eating from root to leaf, and eating more of these plants is going to reduce our need for more and more water and it's also going to lower our carbon footprint. Alejandra Schrader 24:29 Exactly. Well said. Carley Hauck 24:31 some things that I was thinking about. What are some of the favorite ways that you, you know, might reuse recipes? I know you have some ideas or not even reused recipes but reuse food so you know we tend to always have leftovers right? And I'm a big proponent of eating all my leftovers. I don't want any food going to waste but how are you maximizing for that when you think about your kitchen right now at home? Alejandra Schrader 24:58 Well so in my own kitchen, and granted, that is just my husband and I until recently, and even then my son is an infant. So he eats, he doesn't eat yet the same food as we do, because I've tried to prevent him from eating salt and other ingredients. But even though we're a small household, and actually I like to see that as an asset, then what that means is, one meal can last me for longer for many for more days than in other families where there are more people. I always talk about, you know, finding a day like a meal prepping day in your week where you can allocate to four hours on a Sunday afternoon, and you can cook up onto stuff so that you can actually separate it into smaller containers. And some dishes are actually fabulous in the, you know, to freeze and reheat later, especially stews I love. Actually, I believe that it gets even more of enhanced flavor when you freeze and then reheat, I don't know, lentils through this, or maybe some curry, or maybe after gene, there's just, there's just something about sitting there for a while and then being reheated. And then that way, we only eat what we can for the day or the next couple of days. And then we get to free something else. And then, you know, a month from now, a lot of these foods are good to freeze for even six months. So that would be sort of like one way to cook smart. And to avoid food waste by saving stuff for later. I love to repurpose foods and I think that some cooks, when they're less versed in the kitchen, may feel a little more intimidated by this. But I always I always think it's a good idea to think like how can I turn this leftover pasta dish into a casserole, maybe I just add a little more sauce and sprinkle little cheese and put it in the oven it leaded grit, you know, create a beautiful grated internalization on the top and wa-la, you know, now you have a new dish. But I think that the biggest impact is probably from the kind of food waste, where we again are utilizing parts of the vegetable, the fruit that we traditionally don't like, if I'm gonna peel potatoes to make a match, I'm going to save those fields. And I'm going to toss them in the oven with a little olive oil and salt and pepper until they get crisp. And now I can scoop my hummus or my guacamole with it. And I use them as chips or crackers instead of throwing away and I know sort of like trust me on this one that I saved my banana peels, and I poached them I scraped the inner membrane, I shred them. And now I can make a delicious pulled fork type of ingredient. And to sort of attest that this works. This is actually what I just served. Last month I went to Cali Colombia to help open like it was the inauguration of the newest seed bank a, gene bank by the CGIR. And there were 220 people in attendance. And I get up and the first thing I say is I love to cook with trash, and I am going to serve you. Instead of meat, I'm gonna make a shredded banana peel dish. And I think people you know tilted their heads a little bit. But everyone was so blown up that they could call me to their tables to tell me how much they had left. So having an open mind that has a lot to do with the success of this event. And I just encourage people to try to be a little daring when it comes to food waste. Carley Hauck 29:04 Thank you for sharing some of the recipes and the ways that you're doing that at home right now. That's inspiring. I wanted to pivot a little bit into travel. And you actually just spoke about how you are in Colombia. One of the things that I've been thinking about when we think about lowering our carbon footprint, you know, it's not only in how we're eating, but it's how we're traveling. And as the world is starting to open up again, and we're getting on planes more and we're traveling more. The way that we used to travel I don't feel was very sustainable. You know, we go to Paris for a week from New York or from California and we come back. And when you're traveling as a tourist, you're usually accumulating a lot of plastic, you're eating out a lot and not to mention the carbon that is occurring from the plane, you know. And then the way that travel typically, you know is happening is that we're given all this single use plastics. And so this has always been a problem. But we have more consciousness. Now we know that the way that we were traveling, the way that we were eating was not going to support a thriving world or planet. So I wanted to use some of our conversation today to bring a little more awareness to inspire more conscious action. And so I was just in Austin last week for a conference and I had the opportunity to stay with a friend. But I also really wanted to stay with a friend because I knew that that would actually minimize some of the waste that I would have if I stayed in an Airbnb or in a hotel. And so we did a lot of cooking while we were there, and anything that we ate out, I brought home and I ate it, I had very, very little food waste, I was so happy about that. Austin also is an area of Texas that composts. And what was interesting is the friend that I was staying with had a green compost bin in their backyard. But she wasn't composting. Her family wasn't composting, I thought what is going on, but they just weren't thinking about it. They thought that that was only for yard waste. So I showed them how easy it was. As a going away gift, I got them a compost bin and you know, compost baggies. And in fact, I got a text from her this morning, she said that it was almost completely full yesterday. Yes, you kiddos. So the kids or now composting. Now, not every state or city has a composting program. But we know that when we're regenerating the soil, that we're actually extracting carbon from the atmosphere, putting it in the soil instead of it going into the ocean, which is then creating more warming and acidification of all of our marine animals. So I'm bringing all of this because I think it's important that we start to think if we're going to be traveling, how can it be more regenerative? How can we be finding ways to cook to eat less out to be more mindful of the plastics that we're bringing, whenever I go travel, I always bring my own water bottles so that the flight attendants can pour water directly into my bottle, we need to minimize the single use plastics because only 7% actually gets recycled, the rest of its going into our soil and to our food into our water. And I'm going to pause there because I'd love to hear any of your thoughts. Alejandra Schrader 32:41 Yes, I mean, you've touched upon so many interest in so subjects within this greater topic. First of all, you're absolutely right about traveling period, right, like, not all of us and, and I'll, I'll use this to, to, to plug in something I've been sort of joking about but I really mean it, you know, like I am so grateful for, for the for the younger generations that are really really really fighting the good fight. And not all of us can be Greta Thunberg. So you know, when I go do these very meaningful events that I travel for, I couldn't really, you know, get on a sailboat and go across the Atlantic each time. And so I make it a point that the purpose of the treat of the trip is valuable and meaningful enough to in a way offset the carbon generated by it, by the trip itself. I actually when it comes to vacations, we much rather go on road trips as a family especially now that we have a little one but also on my day to day live and and again as a way to offset the carbon footprint that I'm generating by my sporadic business trips is we've you know, we walk and we use a lot of non motorized transportation methods like bike and I live in a very walkable communities so I am very fortunate to have access to goods and services within walking distance or bike rides. And then again, yes, you're absolutely right about that when we do have to travel and jump on a plane like you know, making small changes from bringing the water bottle to actually packing in our own food. We get to eat healthier than eating airport food if we bag our own. I don't know roasted seeds and dry and dry fruits and so forth. I'm a big fan of silicone bags so that we don't have to keep throwing away these little Ziploc baggies. They freeze great by the way. And then you talked about compost, and it is true compost is something that we should all be practicing a little bit more. But I want to just sort of shed light on it. I have a little graphic in my book that it's like an inverted pyramid. And while composting is great, there are other things that we get to do with our food waste that are not just more meaningful, but best utilized for the greater purpose of reducing our carbon footprint. And, you know, a lot of times food that is perfectly good, gets to be thrown away because no one likes it or, or, you know, no one's gonna eat it, we should be considering gifting that food, especially here in the state of California, we have a lot of homeless populations that we could help or even donate the food to shelters and things like that. Yeah, and then there are other layers like we've been trying to repurpose it for your pet or things like that. And then you know, compos being the last one. So just trying to find creative ways. And I'll give you one little example, when you are foot foot prepping, and you have like the shells of your audience, or the caps of your bell peppers, or, and I mean shells, like the little skins that you remove from garlic, or the base of your salary, or the tops of a carrot.You put all that in a silicone bag, you say you do purchase and invest in a big silicone bag like a pound to bow. And every time you have some of these scraps, you put it in this bag, and you keep it in your freezer. And whenever that bag is full, you put it in a big pot, add four to six quarts of water and you make a delicious vegetable broth. Carley Hauck 37:00 I knew you were gonna say that. I would. That sounds amazing. Speaking of plastic bags, as I was actually coming back from Austin, I was there for almost 10 days for some professional development and, and a culture summit. But I always bring my own food on the plane because it's healthier and then I don't, you know, inherit any more plastic. But I was sitting next to this Indian couple, they were older. And they brought out their bags of peas and rice. And it was and they were just eating it out of the bag. And then here I was with my little Tupperware of all vegetables and some nuts. And we were all eating it at the same time. And I said, Are you vegetarian? And they said yes. And I. And I said, I love vegetables too. And it was just so fun. We were all eating our, you know, brought food and I was like, Ooh, what do they have? And so anyway, yeah, yeah, you can create a culture around it on the plane. So I know we only have a little bit longer. But I wanted to also ask you about your inner game, Alejandra, because it was clear to me that you had cultivated a strong inner game. And for those that have been listening to the podcast, the inner game is the internal operating system that really impacts how we show up in the world. And so what do you feel like you have really, maybe dive deeper on as your commitment to your self growth, let's say in the last year, I know that you were birthing this book at about the same time you were birthing this brand new little boy into the world. Alejandra Schrader 38:44 Yes. And that's such a meaningful question for me, because especially when the pandemic hit, and I as a small business owner, took a big hit. And yet again, professionally, I found myself in despair. I had to really tap you know, until my inner self and remember the kind of resilience that I have built throughout my life. Trust that when I've thrown a curveball a lot of times is life just presented me the opportunity to take on a new challenge. It happened, you know, in 2009 when I lost in quotes my career in planning and development and I was quote, forced into the culinary world. And, and especially because the way in which I was living is it was not sustainable working 60 to 70 hours a week, not dedicating enough time to self care to my husband, to the quality of my life. It was only normal and perfect that I had to lose my business when the pandemic hit so that the opportunities were created. So that, one, I finally after eight years of pursuing a book deal, got it. And that after decades of being married, I became pregnant, something that I actually wanted. And I didn't have the means of just being fully transparent, the financial means to get myself or to put myself through, let's just say fertilization methods, and to go on to grow two babies at the same time. I also had to tap into something that is so important for me now, which is empathy for myself, as a way to be more empathetic towards others, to have a greater awareness of my purpose, of my assets of what I am, what am I able to bring to the table, and to finally, and this actually is getting me really emotional to show up authentically to no longer try to be a chameleon to adapt to, to pretend to be someone that I'm not just so that I am liked, just so that I am accepted. And, you know, looking back, I'm like of course! Only when I allowed myself that opportunity to play my inner game skills, everything unfolded into what I now have, the opportunities that I'm given, just the great responsibility that I have for and this passion that is bursting. And I have the means to practice it, to share it and to empower others with. Carley Hauck 42:11 Beautiful. Y'all, you can't see Alejandra, but I can and she's just shining, which is, as you know the title of this podcast. So there are so many me too's, that I can relate to and that and I, I don't know if you felt this way, but when I was actually going through the journey of writing this book, which was four years, and then it actually came out last year, it was really a birthing of myself, you know, to have to continually talk and show up again and again and again, in service of this message, which is really in service of waking humanity up for the greatest good, you know, there are tests, there are challenges, you have to own it, you have to embody it, you have to show up, you have to walk it, and I am really grateful for what that has, what has evolved in me as a result of that, can you relate to that? Alejandra Schrader 43:18 Oh, absolutely. And to trust, to trust that, in that part is so hard as a, you know, I was born in the States, but I grew up in South America and as a woman of color that felt like an immigrant that, you know, it's it feeling the need to control it was so, you know, such a big part of who I was, and I and I felt like it had to be that way. And the moment that I let go, and I just allowed for things to happen. And I trusted that I was taking care of and that as long as I did that work, as long as I put the right energy into doing the work, everything was, you know, everything's gonna work out. Now, I don't even question it. I know, I know. And, and to, you know, to be a sort of, like, I couldn't have any any more tangible evidence that that is true than my book, my child and all of these beautiful, amazing opportunities to really be such an like, you know, I get to be a steward of the planet. Now I get to, you know, I often say that my book is the love letter to Mother Earth written from my kitchen. And now I get to talk to decision makers and impactful people, high profile officials and cetera about this message and I hope to make a big difference. And now I have the platform to do it. Carley Hauck 44:55 You do, and it's so amazing. I love hearing about your journey. So as we're wrapping up, tell us about these two events you have coming out in May and June. Were you get to do this? Alejandra Schrader 45:07 Yes. So, in May, I am invited to speak at the 75th World Health Assembly, which is the decision making body of the World Health Organization in Geneva. And I am part of a side event where the launch of the periodic table of food initiative is taking place, it's May 22. And I get to come and talk about my favorite subject: food waste and sustainability, eating within planetary boundaries. And then in June, I was invited to speak at the Women in Food and Agriculture Summit, the WFP summit in Frankfort. And, and again, I'm going to have the platform to talk about, you know, sustainable food systems, and hopefully, hopefully, you know, like, light up that spark, and yet another or a couple few or 100 individuals so that we can all start working towards a more sustainable future. Carley Hauck 46:12 Thank you, well, I know you're gonna send me those show links. And we will provide them for our listeners to tune into. You also have a really fun Instagram account with beautiful recipes, I actually have picked out one of your recipes from your book, it's the zucchini noodle and portobello steak, which in the show notes so folks can go and you know, cook that up. And I hope people will go and find your book and find some really fun inspiration for the spring and summer. Wherever you are listening in from. And is there. Is there anything else that you want to leave our listeners with? Alejandra Schrader 46:51 I just say, I would just say like, you know, you don't have to say yes, but you can stop saying no. And, and I say that in regards to trying to make meaningful shifts to the way that you eat, and that you think about food. And, if that's saying yes means trying one new vegetable every week, maybe not having an animal source product one meal a day, maybe even practicing meatless Mondays, there's not too small of a change, every small action can make big wonderful effects as part of a collective action. Carley Hauck 47:36 Well, Alejandra, thank you so much for your wisdom, for your service. I look forward to staying connected and just seeing how this light continues to spread and inspire so many others. And if there's a way that I can support you, please feel free to reach out. Alejandra Schrader 47:55 Thank you so much. It means so much to us what a wonderful conversation. I'm very grateful. Carley Hauck 48:04 Thank you so much, Alexandra for your voice, your passion, sharing your story. I'll link to all the wonderful resources Alejandra mentioned in the show notes. As you heard, we can mitigate climate change, protect our resources by eating mostly whole foods plants, being mindful of how we cook, how we even use our food scraps, and how we can reduce the consumption of meat so that there is more for everyone, and we're taking good care of the planet. While there are many plant based and alternative protein products coming into the market. What is also part of these new products is plastic and packaging. And what I'd like to invite as you start to move towards a more vegan plant based diet is that you focus on buying more fruits and vegetables. Buy foods in bulk. Bring your own bags, use your own utensils when you're traveling or when you're just out and about keep them in your car. Use water bottles, instead of buying plastic bottles. And even keep a to-go plastic container or maybe a metal container in your car so that when you do go out to eat when you have leftovers, you don't have to take another plastic container. All of this plastic is going into our soil or water, our oceans. Only 7% of plastic is actually recyclable. So in our efforts to focus and optimize our wellbeing, the planet's wellbeing our families or communities, we have to get rid of this plastic consumption. So my invitation: How can you minimize your plastic this week? This year? And as a way to support you to reduce your meat consumption, I want to tell you about this fabulous conference that I'll be attending from May 12 through 14th. That's right outside of the Bay Area, I believe there will be a virtual opportunity as well. The tickets are really affordable. And I believe they're not turning anyone away. And this is the fourth annual summit, they had to push pause because of a pandemic. I will be attending, the organizer Brian invited me. I am so delighted. And Bruce Friedrich, who was our first interview of the season, who is the co-founder of The Good Food Institute, Brian actually worked for Bruce years ago. So if you missed that interview, which is Standing For a Good Food System, you definitely want to listen to that one. But going back to the Reducetarian Summit May 12 through 14th, definitely check that out. The link is in the show notes. And if you can't attend, there is also a cookbook that Brian has written and his documentary Meat Me Halfway, yes, m-e-a-t me halfway, came out last summer, and I highly recommend it. All of these links will be in the show notes. The SHINE podcast has been self sponsored since May 2019. It is freely offered from my heartfelt desire to be in service and support of a workplace and world that works for everyone and is living in greater harmony with the Earth from conscious inclusive leadership and socially responsible business practices. I would love and appreciate your support so that I can continue to have these wonderful interviews with inspiring leaders bringing science tips and evidence to your ears. And you can donate and support me by going to my Patreon page www.patreon.com/carleyhauck, the link is in the show notes. Your generosity helps so much. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. If you have questions, comments or topics you'd like me to address, please email me. I would love to hear from you support@carleyhauck.com. Until we meet again, and that's going to be really soon my friend because I have another fabulous episode coming out on Earth Day. Oh, I can't wait to share it with you. But until we meet again, be the light and shine your light.

The Future of Food is Vegan with Jenny Stojkovic

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2022 51:01

Today's episode is with my friend Jenny Stojkovic on the future of food is vegan. Jenny is a passionate entrepreneurial leader who is supporting the rise of women founders who are invested towards a more sustainable and humane future through advancing vegan foods, fashion, beauty, & technology. In the last few years, Jenny has launched the Vegan Women's Summit and has gathered thousands of women all over the world who are supporting a more conscious and inclusive way of leading and who are committed to business being a force for good in the world. In this inspiring podcast interview, Jenny and I talk about her motivation for this movement, her close relationship with Miyoko Schinner, the founder of Miyoko's Creamery, and the many event opportunities that you will have as a listener to participate with these businesses whom are hiring and/or would love to wow you with their vegan products. You don't want to miss this one. Guest Links: Vegan Women Summit — https://veganwomensummit.com/ VWS Connect — https://veganwomensummit.com/vws-connect “Why I Think the Future of Food Will Be Women Led” Rolling Stone article — https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/future-food-led-women-1202169/ SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust culture and psychological safety at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — https://www.leadfromlight.com Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck, I am your host. This podcast focuses on the intersection of the application and scientific literature of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I facilitate two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our fascinating topic today, can you please go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button. This way you don't miss any of our inspiring episodes. Thank you. We are in season six of the SHINE podcast. And we have had some incredible interviews. And the focus of this season is on how we optimize the way we live, work and play. How can we create a workplace culture and world that is mindful of our consumption, our energy leaks, and optimizing for our own well being, our co-workers, our communities and the planet. Today's episode is with my friend Jenny Stojkovic on the future of food is vegan. Jenny is a passionate executive leader who is supporting the rise of women founders invested towards a more sustainable and humane future by advancing plant based and alternative proteins. In the last few years, Jenny has launched the Vegan Women's Summit and has gathered thousands of women all over the world, who are supporting a more conscious and inclusive way of leading and who are committed to business being a force for good in the world. In this inspiring podcast interview, Jenny and I talk about her motivation for this movement, her close relationship with Miyoko Schinner, the founder of Miyoko's Creamery and the many opportunities that you will have as a listener to enter virtually into some of the events and ways to learn more about this fascinating industry. You don't want to miss this one. Carley Hauck 2:33 Hello, SHINE podcast listeners. This is Carley and I am here with my new friend Jenny Stojkovic, the founder of the Vegan Women's Summit. I am so excited to have this conversation. Jenny, thanks for joining me. Jenny Stojkovic 2:47 Thank you so much for having me. And also nailing that pronunciation. Carley Hauck 2:55 Haha, thank you. So one of the first questions I usually ask folks and guests on the podcast, because the podcast focuses on conscious inclusive leadership is What does conscious inclusive leadership mean to you? Jenny Stojkovic 3:15 Conscious, inclusive leadership to me is at the core of everything that I do. I believe that we have an obligation to the planet and our fellow beings to make sure that anything that we're doing in our daily life is conscious of that impact. And so, to me, it's really the core focus of mission driven leadership and what it means to be in a mission driven space. I think that there are a lot of people in the last few years in the pandemic that have started to look inwards, about how they can be more conscious about how they are spending their professional time, and what they're doing for a living. And so to me, I really think that it is finding that purpose driven way to lead your life both professionally and personally. Carley Hauck 4:04 Hmm, great answer. Thank you for sharing that. And I know that you probably get this question asked a lot. But I feel really curious what started your interest in passion and plant based and alternative proteins. Jenny Stojkovic4:21 So my journey with the food system started seven years ago now. And it really came from a somewhat unique place when it comes to talking about plant based diets. So lots of people have their story of their why and you know, why did you go plant based. I think as I was telling you earlier before we jumped on, it's the number one question that we all get in this space. And for myself, unfortunately I went through a very deep personal tragedy. When I was quite young, my husband and I, unfortunately had our best man and his best friend murdered at a very young age, and it was a very senseless act of violence that happened to us and going through the grieving process and going through the trials and tribulations of, of the legal system. And there's an entire trial that goes with such a, you know, horrible situation. And we decided to look inwards. Much like a lot of what you practice, we decided to learn about meditation, to learn about mindfulness, to read a lot of the Buddha's writings to really understand our purpose on the planet, when we were going through so much pain. And through that journey, we ended up actually going to the prison and forgiving the murderer, for what had happened. And we decided that if we were going to find compassion in this situation, we would have to be bringing it to our daily lives in every situation. And so the most compassionate thing that you can really do is look at your impact that you're doing every single day, three times a day, and that's the meals that you're eating. So we decided right then in there for very much philosophical and ethical reasons that we would go plant based, my husband and I, and that has been seven years since. Carley Hauck 6:11 Wow, I love that story. Thank you for sharing that. And I feel care hearing about your loss. And it sounds like it's been quite a learning journey for you, if you've really used it as not, why did this happen to me? But how did this happen for me, right? Like, what can I learn and grow from it? Jenny Stojkovic 6:30 Absolutely, it's the best worst thing that has ever happened. And it has completely shifted my entire, the fiber of my being. That's how I think about myself, the humility that I bring to the planet and the understanding of, of all of the other inhabitants that we have here the responsibility to others, or responsibility to everybody else, human and non human. And so I think that it's very important for folks that are listening, especially going through the pandemic, to find catharsis for, you know, what might have been trauma that happened to them, there's been a lot of loss in the last few years, there's a lot of loss, it's going to happen, you know, unfortunately, in the world, as we've kind of seen on the news this week, so finding a way to take that trauma and, and heal and use it for good is something that I'd like to talk about often. And something I don't hear talked about in the professional space as much as, as it really should be. Carley Hauck 7:27 I love that you just highlighted that I agree with you. I mean, I think that we all have trauma. And we all have attachment trauma, I think that's actually one of the the bigger pieces of trauma that is not really talked about, which is, you know, maybe coming from childhood or coming from the attachment or, or non attachment that we have from different relationships in our life, whether it's personal or professional. And I think part of that we've been seeing and all the mental health concerns that has really just had more light shined on it, I think it's always been there underneath. And when we actually choose to look at something and observe it, I think there's much more opportunity to heal and transform it versus covering it up. And, you know, part of why I wrote Shine my book and why it's called that is because, you know, again, I I like to shine the light on what's really happening on the truth. And it's not always pretty, you know, it's not always pleasant. But we can't change it, unless we're willing to look at it and see how did it get this way? And that actually brings us to our food system, right? We have a lot of work to do. And you're part of changemakers that's really amplifying this. So, tell me and the listeners a bit more about the Vegan Women's Summit. I know it's had a lot of growth in the last few years, pretty much the entire time of the pandemic. Jenny Stojkovic 9:09 Yeah, absolutely. So VWS, Vegan Women's Summit, started two years ago, literally two years ago, February. We're kind of a baby or a toddler still as an organization. And it really started out of a need that I perceived a few years back, being in the tech industry. So I built my career in Silicon Valley. I've been able to work with all of you know, the most exciting, you know, tech brands in the world and help build startups and innovation. And one of the things that was very unfortunate about that experience is that I was often the only woman in the room. It was a very, very homogenous group of folks that have really led the tech industry. It's not really a surprise for anyone to hear that it's not a secret. We all know that FIn Tech has quite a diversity problem. And I discovered that food tech was really starting to take off. It was something that I had personally seen and followed because of my plant based diet, but I hadn't professionally engaged in the space. And so starting in 2018, I started to do more and more work in the future of food programming, and discovered quite quickly that as the space was gaining more and more momentum and traction, it was unfortunately suffering from a lot of that same lack of representation of the tech industry. So vegan Women's Summit VWS was founded to empower women to build a kinder, more sustainable world. And so we are here to inspire the nearly 4 billion women on the planet to join the mission driven space, we focus on the future of both food as well as fashion, very much beauty, biotechnology, animal free innovation, and we are inspiring women to create companies build companies invest in companies get jobs in these companies, be consumer advocates for these companies, any way that we can help push a more diverse and equitable future of food and beyond. That's, that's where you're gonna find us. Carley Hauck 11:01 Awesome. Wonderful. So being that this has really taken off pretty much the entire time of the pandemic, I feel really curious, what are some of the important lessons that you've learned? This is clearly very purposeful for you, this mission, this business, I'm sure there's lots of lessons but maybe like narrow it down to two or three. Jenny Stojkovic 11:25 So when we went into the pandemic we as as a share, we are a very, very young organization that had just done one in person conference, before we built out a global platform, which we are today, we were faced with this decision of do we put this whole thing on the backburner because we're going into the pandemic? Or do we just go all in on how we can build this global community? And I have just been blown away, we went from 250 Women in a room to over 40,000 women across six continents in this virtual space, because the barriers that are broken down by the virtual setting are profound. And that was probably the best lesson that I learned was that if you really truly want to be a diverse and equitable organization that is focused on removing the challenges and barriers that women face, women in particular, you're going to have to meet them where they're at. And so many women just don't have the opportunity to network and engage in the types of external opportunities that were so commonplace before the pandemic, because of, you know, financial constraints, because, you know, half of the women in our community are parents or guardians, most of them are the majority caregiver, there's just so many different things that affect women's ability to, to really network and be part of the space. So the virtual setting, to me, was probably the best lesson that I learned. And the other lesson that I learned is just how profound the networking gap is, too. It is just the constraints that are placed upon us, when we are from a, you know, different walks of life and have a different background that does not match that of, you know, the folks in Silicon Valley that were born on the peninsula. You know, we were just talking earlier before we jumped on the pod that we both kind of came from other places to make our way to the Bay Area. It's a leap, it's a hurdle. And so if you can create virtual spaces that are helping to create that network, and that community that these women, and especially women of color wouldn't otherwise have, you can really, really make a difference. We've had women that have created entire companies after coming to our summits. I have women that write to me every day and say, You inspire me. And look, I just raised X amount of money for this company. I started after we learned from your content. Carley Hauck 13:43 Beautiful. So what I'm hearing is that the two important lessons were really the aspect of the virtual space allowed women that needed more flexibility to be able to participate in these types of conversations, and also just how important the network was, and that there was a real gap, and giving women women from all over the world, this type of network to learn and grow and actually support each other. And, you know, one of the things that I love about being a woman, a woman identifying, is that there is such a strong sisterhood of women. It's always been my experience. And it's also something that you have to look for often, you know, and find your people. I was part of the Emerging Women conference, which was hosted for many years, and then ended in 2019. And then there was also another really incredible organization that actually stopped having their in person events right before the pandemic hit in February 2020. I was actually at the last Conscious Companies Women's Summit, but they were gathering women from all over the world as well. to support other entrepreneurs that were interested in more mission and purposeful, driven businesses, like the one that you have created, and that the ones that you're supporting. So those are great lessons. I have seen you highlight Miyoko Schinner, the founder of Miyoko's Creamery. And for those folks listening that don't know what Miyoko's Creamery is, it's it's a wonderful company based in Petaluma only about an hour from where I am currently in Marin County, that specializes in dairy free products, different types of cheeses, typically using the traditional cheese making cultures but with cashews, oats, chickpea flour. And Jenny, you may even have more to say on that, because I know that you're close with the founder, but she, at least from the outside represents one of the first women of color in the plant based and alternative protein space, it's really made some traction. And I know that she was an early supporter of VWS. But you've also been a supporter of hers, and she's one of the speakers for the upcoming VWS Summit this April, which I know will speak to a little bit later. But I've just had this intuition that the two of you have a strong friendship and partnership. And I could be completely wrong. But I just feel curious, how did that relationship evolve to where it is now? Jenny Stojkovic 16:27 So the intuition was right. Absolutely. So I have been fortunate to know Miyoko for, say, five or six years now perhaps, and she has very much been an early champion of myself, of VWS. I'm really fortunate to call her a friend and a mentor and, and she really represents in my opinion, what a conscious 21st century leader is. One of the things that's so inspiring to me about Miyoko's story and this is something that needs to get out, I think in the public much more. She created three, four, maybe five companies before she launched Miyoko's Creamery, which has now raised, you know, $60- $70 million, is one of the fastest growing plant based dairy companies in the world. Massive, massive company that's hugely disrupted the industry. And she went through so many businesses over and over and over again, before she, you know, hit the nail on the head. But this one, she was 57 years old when she started her company. And so her story is not some 25 year old, you know, white tech bro whiz kid that just like invented an app in, you know, Palo Alto, she, she really, to me exemplifies one of the many, many stories of what an entrepreneur is. And that's what is so unique and so incredibly important in this space is we have this idea and this archetype of who a founder is who an entrepreneur is. But in reality, all of us can be entrepreneurs, all of us can be founders. And the more we have women like Miyoko, that can speak out and explain actually, here's all the times I failed forward, before I created me, oh, goes are actually at 57, you can start a business at 21, you can start a business, it's never too late. It's never too early. Those are the types of lessons that have been really important for me to learn myself and for us to teach to the women in the VWS community. Carley Hauck 18:25 Wonderful, thanks for sharing all of that. And I've listened to her talk about her path. And it's, it's quite inspiring. I'd actually love to have her on the podcast and give her a little bit of light here. So I also know that you, having this network of women from all over the world and really understanding some of the challenges that women and marginalized communities have to really struggle with around resources and capital. I was wondering if you could share what the current stats are right now that you're privy to. Jenny Stojkovic 19:06 This is an unfortunate turn of the conversation, it is not trending in the right direction, to put it succinctly. So we actually were making quite a bit of gains for capital investment into women founders up until about the pandemic or so. And we are now in a downward trend, because in the pandemic, many investors invested more heavily into male founders, because the going kind of story in the industry is that male founders are seen as more trustworthy backs, unfortunately. And that really gets into an entire conversation of the types of bias that women face in this space. So VWS conducts the only industry wide survey in the future of food and animal alternative space. So we speak to hundreds of women CEOs and founders every year and collect data around their experiences, their challenges and opportunities in the industry. And unfortunately, we saw increase reports of bias from investors. Gender bias is still a very significant factor of the women wait, about half the women reported experiencing bias from investors and of the women who did report it, like 80% stated gender bias, just a shockingly high amount. Close you close a close second to that was racial bias. And then of course, there's ageism and appearance bias and other things as well. We found that women of color founders in the community were experiencing rates of bias and discrimination that was one and a half times that of the white founders in the community, which was also very troubling, especially considering much of what has happened culturally speaking, since you know, the the George Floyd murder as well. So that's, that's really scary to see that things have made that turn. Globally speaking, of all venture capital that was invested last year, food tech and other industries included, less than 3% went to women founders and about 0.5% went to women founders of color. So the the results are still quite staggering. Carley Hauck 21:08 Thank you for sharing that. Well, it's not surprising. And I think the more that we talk about it, the more that we bring it to the surface, that's where we can change it. And I don't know if Curt's gonna like me, outing him in this way. But one of my friends, because I'm very passionate about amplifying plant based and alternative proteins into the market, so that we can really have a more harmonious relationship with the planet and all beings and be eating in a way that is supporting life is one of my friends is Curt Albright, who is one of the founding partners of Clear Current Capital, and they have several portfolio companies that they're supporting in this space. And for those women listening, I just wonder if there's any opportunity within his investment firm, he's actually a vegan investment banker, which is super exciting. And Unovis Partners is also doing a lot to fund the space as well. And so those might need just institutions, organizations that folks can reach out to. So just something that I'm plugging at the moment. Jenny Stojkovic 22:32 I know both of them well. Unovis is is a very big supporter of VWS and has been since the beginning as well. Carley Hauck 22:38 Mm hmm. They're incredible. I imagined to you did, but I'm happy to hear. So let's shift a little bit into how well you're supporting yourself in this, you know, fast paced time that you're in as an entrepreneur, but also as VWS is getting a lot more momentum, one of the things that I like to ask guests on the podcast is really about their inner game. And so the inner game really refers to some of what I've talked about in my latest book, but also, you know, one of the things that I've really watched in leaders and observed and helped cultivate and the 10 years of supporting lots of different companies and some of the students that I've worked with at UC Berkeley and Stanford. And so it refers to self awareness, emotional intelligence, well being resilience, love, authenticity. And so I imagine you have pieces of all of these Jenny, but I feel curious, which is the one that's really supporting you to rise and, you know, be able to be courageous. And what I imagine is the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. Jenny Stojkovic 23:56 Each of these elements which you listed certainly play a role in any founder's journey. But for myself, the one that sticks out the most at this current juncture in time is certainly authenticity. I think that authenticity is something that people really crave from those around them and it is something that is really lacking in the business space in particular. We have so many people that have been kind of putting on this professional me face you know, like wake up in the morning, put the professional me clothes on but the professional smile and you know, the professional facade and then there's the personal me. And for folks in the pandemic I think over these last few years, it started to blur quite a bit in a good way. And so I decided, a little while ago, that I would start to become more outwardly authentic to my personal self and less concerned with putting on that professional Jenny suit and smile and it has led to some really, really fantastic conversations and partnerships. And really drawn the attention of so many people that I think otherwise would have perhaps glazed over and what I'm speaking about, I think that people are getting very interested even from the non, you know, Future of Food, food tech plant based space, I received so many remarks from people that are inspired by by some of the work that I'm doing simply because I'm just connecting with them in a way that is authentic to them as a person. And I think that's very important, because it was kind of a niche industry, and still is a niche industry in so many ways. And so for us to redefine what it means to be a leader in the future of food, and to be a plant based leader. I think it's really important. And that's what's going to really spread the message beyond just the 1% of vegans, but to the 99% of other folks. Carley Hauck 25:47 Wonderful. Yeah, so I am going to dig a little bit deeper. And I know, because you're really leading with a lot of authenticity, I imagine you'll meet me here. So in the moments that you might feel fear, you know, to, to put on your red lipstick, let's say, which is awesome, love it. Or to really kind of just share a part of yourself that you're not used to sharing in the public eye, take off the mask, so to speak. How do you support yourself to step into that arena? Even when there's fear, even when there's maybe a thought of Oh, my gosh, what if I have backlash for doing this? What if I, you know, I just feel curious, how are you navigating that maybe inner talk? Jenny Stojkovic 26:34 There's a quote that I've actually been repeating to myself as a mantra very recently, this one, it just sticks out- Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. It's Bruce Lee. And I think that that's the most important thing to me is just building up that resilience and that grit. I think that that is the difference between the people that never get off the starting line, and those that just go for it. And it can be very vulnerable and very lonely. And, it is very difficult at times to put yourself out there to build something on your own to have no idea if people are going to receive what you're putting out there. And I just think about, you know, most people have ideas, and they have talk, and they never take action. And that is so so important that we realize that and for us, I think that women in particular, we lack representation. So it's easy to not believe that you belong in the space to begin with, we suffer from imposter syndrome at much higher rates than than some of our other counterparts, particularly those of us that do not come from these types of networks and alumni groups. And so if you've never seen someone in this space, then you might think that are never seen someone that looks like you in this space, you might think that you don't belong. So just remembering that being resilient, you know, leading in a way that you are fearless, but calculated and and just prepare for the fact that not everyone is going to receive what you're doing the way you want them to. And at some point that's out of your control. Carley Hauck 28:20 Love that. That's great. Thank you so much. Yeah, I think that also, you know, one of the aspects of authenticity, the inner game of authenticity is really knowing what your yes is, what your no is, you know, really owning your truth. And then that's how we can actually lead from the outside with it. And that takes time to cultivate. And then you have the vulnerability of really bringing your whole self and being the fact that I facilitate and bring a lot of opportunities for teams and leaders to showcase their vulnerability. Because that's going to support more trust, more psychological safety. It is really something that we are all craving. And I think we've had more opportunity to bring our whole selves to work and to life in the midst of the pandemic, because we're all in each other's living rooms, right or in our, in our bedrooms, or there's a toddler running across the street, or we're shoving food in our mouth on a zoom call, right? It's just it's just kind of removed barriers in a way that we didn't have access to. And what I feel really excited about in the future of work and how we're going to lead and team together is how do we create a workplace that really does work for everyone and supports for inclusion, and this authenticity and this vulnerability, where there's not as much posturing and there is a lot more flexibility for women and people of color, to be able to work in a way that fits their lifestyle. I think, you know, we're not going to go back into the office in the way that we used to. And I, I'm really hoping that we pause and take all the lessons we've learned, because we're in this incredible time where we get to build it, we get to redesign and shift what wasn't working into something that does work. And I, that was not something that I was gonna ask you about. But what do you think about that? How does that land for you? Jenny Stojkovic 30:32 I totally agree with you, we have a unique opportunity right now, where we are completely, you know, rebuilding it, it's like a whiteboard, right? We can, we all and all these companies very much are, my husband's an HR executive. And so all these companies are facing this completely new paradigm of how people live in work and in their organizations. And they're all kind of throwing stuff at the wall, like, what does this one fit? Does this one fit, some companies are saying we're staying fully zoom, other companies are saying, come back to the office, other companies are saying somewhere in the middle, you know, we're redistributing the workforce, we're decentralizing the talent and skills and the opportunities, that's the thing that really really excites me the most about this in the way that our virtual community at VWS was able to decentralize by going online, and reaching women across six continents, women in Mumbai, and Manila and places where they would otherwise never get access to Silicon Valley investors. We are seeing that with talent, too, right? You and I both know, being in the Bay Area, that the barrier is an extremely expensive place, it's about $4,000 for a one bedroom or a two bedroom as of this month, that's the median rent right now. And so it was seen as a place that many people could not ever, you know, have as a feasible place to live and work. And now that we are redistributing where these jobs can be, we're able to hire all over and reach these marginalized communities and folks that would otherwise never ever get this opportunity. So that's what excites me the most and, and I think that that is an amazing, amazing opportunity. Yet also the challenge of how you have a cohesive culture that is threaded across screens is also a little bit difficult. And what did the hours look like? Because I think we all know now, being in this virtual setting, we kind of mesh our life and work together. I don't know about you, do you find yourself working longer hours, but you do. You break it up more? That's what my experience has been. Carley Hauck 32:42 I've been an entrepreneur for over a decade now. I am definitely a high performer. And I tend to work a lot of hours, but make sure that I'm taking breaks. And that may mean that I'm working for hours on Sunday, you know, because I give myself more of that time during the week because I'm tired, or my creative juices just aren't firing. So it's, you know, it's getting the work done, but doing it in a way that's optimizing my well being and giving myself a chance to recover. And actually, that was what I was going to ask you. But before I do, I want to actually go back one more step because you have been privy to some incredible founders. And we talked about Miyoko. But I feel curious, are there maybe two or three others that you'd like to highlight about their company, how they're leading what you're learning about them, they could be upcoming, you know, speakers, or they've been past speakers, I'd love to hear and just give these founders a little light. Jenny Stojkovic 33:50 So there's so so many, but to pick a few Deborah Torres is a very incredible woman whose name you perhaps have not heard yet, but that will change very soon. She's the founder of Atlas Monroe. She is a you know, single black female founder in San Diego that has built her entire plant based protein company from the ground up without any venture capital funding. She has the largest vegan chicken manufacturing plant in North America. And she's done it all on her own dime, bootstrapping this thing, growing this thing and she famously was on Shark Tank and Mark Cuban offered to buy her company and she walked away. So just an incredible story, an incredible story. I'm one that you don't hear enough, right. So, she's amazing. She'll be at the summit on April 8, of course, I'm lucky to call her a close friend. I also am really inspired by many of the women that are in the future of infant and pregnancy space. This is an area where I have a very deep personal interest. I've seen such a huge huge spike in companies that are addressing stainable alternatives to infant formula. So dairy infant formula accounts for 10% of the global liquid dairy market. So it's a massive, massive industry. And nobody has created alternatives up until now. So Michelle, who you mentioned earlier, before we started the call in bio milk, Michelle Egger, she's a fantastic young millennial founder that is creating, sell cultivated breast milk alternatives. So she is growing real breast milk in a lab so that it can be packaged and sold on grocery store shelves, so that mothers can feel confident that they can give a real alternative to their breast milk to their babies and not feel guilty about, you know, giving them formula that is not, you know, bioidentical and mammalian specific to them. This is actual real breast milk that she is recreating so that women can be empowered. And that is something that I think is so important, because there are just biological challenges that come with being a mother that are barriers for women's success in business. And, you know, you want to make sure that your child has the very best nutrition and, and has the best chance at life yet. How are you going to scale your company, if you're spending three years breastfeeding, then which is what the World Health Organization recommends, like that's a real challenge in modern day life. And she's got an actual product that can solve that. And that's very exciting to me. Carley Hauck 36:29 Awesome, wonderful. So let's pivot back to well being we were talking a little bit about that flexibility and the hours that we keep, you know, in entrepreneurship, but let's face it, like any people leader, especially in the midst of the pandemic, and probably even before, I mean, there's people that are working in learning and development, HR, like your husband. I mean, those people have been in such service in the midst of the pandemic. And I just think the companies that are still standing owe a lot to them, you know, that they've been really having to care for the people in ways that was never required before. And so how have you been optimizing for your own well being and you know, please be authentic, where we all learn from one another? What are some of the practices that are really necessary for you, which are the ones that maybe you wish you were able to kind of dial in a bit more. Jenny Stojkovic 37:33 So I have a few very specific things that I have done to really make myself my best self. So obviously, I eat a plant based diet, 80% probably whole foods, plant based diet and about 20%, you know, garden nuggets or treats like Miyoko's. So diet and nutrition, I think, is very, very important. But I also typically exercise every day, the last few weeks, I've been a little bit out of it, some healing an injury, but I typically like to make sure that I am physically active. And some of the other things I've done more recently, in the last few years, I don't drink any alcohol. Actually, I don't do any sort of drugs. And so sobriety is something that I think is really kind of starting to catch on. A lot of people are talking more about that. I myself, I never had, I was lucky, I never had an issue with alcohol addiction, I actually would drink perhaps once a month out with friends. And then I realized that alcohol was no longer serving me and it would really kind of reduce my mental and physical capacities. So I cut it out entirely about three years ago. And I really enjoyed being more clear minded and bright eyed in that regard. And I value sleep and go to bed at 9pm every night. Carley Hauck 38:50 Great. Thank you. Well, I hope others will be inspired by those practices. Sounds like they're serving you well, Jenny. I also eat a plant based diet and I actually just had Miyoko's in my morning breakfast. So giving a little bit of a little bit of their farmhouse chatter. So good. Yeah. Yeah, very good. Jenny Stojkovic 39:15 It's key. It's key. You have to have a little bit of, you know, I eat lots of vegetables and lots of tofu and stuff. You got to have some of the treats every now and then. I think that balance is extremely important. Carley Hauck 39:22 Yeah. I'm also a big fan. It's funny. I think I saw you post about this. What is it called? It's like Midday, Midday Squares. Ah, those are so good. And they're full of protein. Jenny Stojkovic 39:40 Yes. That's another shout out. Yeah. So if you go to the VW Pathfinders podcast, I have a great sit down with their CEO Lez Karls, who's a friend of mine. We were an early supporter, before Midday Square's even got to the US and Lez has a really inspiring story. I'll just do a quick plug for her. Right she has a number of learning disorders, including you know, quite significant dislike and a few others, whose name I can't remember the exact title of but she was told growing up in school that she just in terms of, you know, academics and things like that would would never be able to make it because of having so many learning disorders. And she has created her role as CEO built around the neuro diversity that she has. And she, you know, she has led in a way where she's honest about having these learning disabilities and she embraces them and it's made her such an incredible CEO. And I just think that we don't really talk about some of these superpowers. And so we have an entire podcast and an entire piece we did on using disability as your superpower. Carley Hauck 40:48 I also just really felt the love that you had in your voice, just your staunch support of her and your respect and admiration. So thank you for sharing that. And thanks for the energy that you bring in support of so many of these founders and women, it's really, it's really touching Jenny. So, on that note, let's talk about this passion that you have and how you brought it into the Vegan Women's Summit, but also some of these virtual job fairs. Tell us about the upcoming April 8 Vegan Women's Summit in LA. Whoo. Jenny Stojkovic 41:21 So for folks that are listening, we would love to have you live in person in Los Angeles at our flagship summit, The Vegan Women's Summit, it is our only big in person summit that we do a year. Our first one was in San Francisco, this one's in LA. I will have more news about our 2023 one, we're going really big because we're about to sell out for 2022 for next year. And so this summit is the only place in the entire world that is focused specifically on how we can build the future generation of changemakers. We've got hundreds and hundreds of women and male professionals flying in from all over the world to come learn and participate in this one of a kind event where we will be featuring dozens of women celebs, athletes, CEOs, investors, all speaking, we've got a really big headliner that we're announcing next week. By the time this airs, it will be out So Alicia Silverstone will be headlining which is amazing. We also have a number of folks like Deborah, who I mentioned earlier, and then we will have 40 plus plant based brands from around the world for you to come sample. So the future of food, fashion beauty, we are trying to inspire everyone and anyone that is interested in learning how they can be a part of the future of food and how they can create a kind of more sustainable world to come out, engage with the community, listen to who is leading the community, be inspired, try the products, hopefully make some changes yourself get a job in the space. To your point about the job fair that we do, VWS Connect is our Virtual Job Fair, where we work with all the top employers in the space everybody from Beyond and Impossible to Miyoko's, you know, all kinds of different plant based companies to help fill their roles at their companies, with our job seekers. So we're really looking to fire on all cylinders to help get women's representation at all aspects of this industry, whether it's helping you get a job, found a company, become an investor. That's what we're doing at VWS. Carley Hauck 43:26 Wonderful, and I'm just gonna give a little plug for Omni foods because I believe they're going to be one of the booths at your VWS. And David is one of the leaders that I've highlighted in my book and Ananda Bhavani has been one of my best friends for like seven years. So I think she's, I think she's gonna be there and she and I and her sister who also work for meat. We all yep, yep. We were all at the food seed and wine conference in Miami. And I was in their booth with them and loved the product and it got an incredible response from the community in Miami. So I hope it'll have a similar response in LA. Jenny Stojkovic 44:14 Yeah, absolutely. Winona, Ananda, and I was actually, we might have met then the person not realized. I spoke, Pinkie Colin and I keynoted seafood and wine on this past November. Is that the one you're talking about? Carley Hauck 44:30 Yeah. Yeah. Jenny Stojkovic 44:32 Cool. Well, there we go. Carley Hauck 44:34 I was buzzing around but I was in the booth. I was on a press pass. So I was trying to like you know, talk to some important folks there but awesome. Awesome. So speaking of books, you have one coming out, let's hear a little bit about it. Jenny Stojkovic 44:50 I do so this is like on the very DL, everybody. We haven't even publicly announced it yet. But The Future of Food is Female will be published in April. It is the first book in the industry that's focused on women's leadership in plant based innovation, cell based innovation, all things animal free. We spoke to women all around the world, everyone from celebrities to a member of the European Parliament, all kinds of women that are changing the food system. And it is just incredible how much is going on, that folks maybe don't realize, and so I am both proud, yet disappointed to say it is the very first book in the entire industry focused on women's leadership. And I can't wait to get it out there. Carley Hauck 45:40 Well wait to be a trailblazer. And I imagine there will be more after you. So, and maybe you'll have a second book, everyone's like, when are you writing your second book, I'm like, Ah, I need a break. This was a big baby. Jenny Stojkovic 45:55 I've got ideas, I've already got a lot, a lot of ideas. And the goal of the book is so that anywhere around the world, a woman can pick it up. And we have almost 4 billion women in the world. And you can pick it up and you can see a woman that comes from a place that you came from, or looks like you or just anything out there, the representation out there is so, so scant, there just is not enough. There's not enough publications and platforms that are highlighting that women from all over of all backgrounds are doing these incredible things. So my goal is that you will find someone you connect with in this book and you will be inspired no matter who you are male or female. But in particular, for women that are reading it, young women, were taking the book to a ton of different universities, they can be inspired to become a leader too. Carley Hauck 46:45 Wonderful. And on the kind of end of our conversation, although I'd love to talk to you for hours, I feel curious, what is some of the best leadership guidance that you have received? Jenny Stojkovic 47:00 I think the most important thing is to make sure that you maintain your humility and that you enter every single day with a low ego mindset. That's one of the biggest mistakes that leaders and especially startup founders make, in my opinion, and I assume you're working with a lot of leaders, you've seen the same thing. I think a low ego environment allows for us to be our best selves. And it allows for us to embrace the best ideas and to have a creative workplace where we can really grow from one another. And we don't feel the need to posture or defend ourselves or feel offended by folks that perhaps counter the types of perspectives that we have. And that's really conscious, inclusive leadership as well. Carley Hauck 47:50 Mm hmm. Humility and low ego mindset. Love that. Well, Jenny, this has been such a delight to talk to you. I love all the common values and passion that we both share for the space. Is there anything else you'd like to leave our listeners with, I will definitely link to all the, you know, the event and the show links will be available for people. Jenny Stojkovic 48:16 I just encourage everybody that is trying to figure out perhaps what their next big thing is trying to find that North Star, we have an incredible challenge on our hands with what's going on on the planet. And we need every single person's skills, expertise and passion to tackle it. For myself, I focus on the food system. It's the single largest cause of the issues that we're facing with climate change. And so if you're feeling inspired by this conversation, come follow us with VWS, come learn about how you can be a part of these solutions. We need everybody. So everybody's welcome. Carley Hauck 48:50 Thank you, Jenny for your passion and purpose. Joining me today on the SHINE podcast. I love this conversation. Love this movement, super committed just as you are to seeing it rise and flourish for all beings and for our planet. A link to all the wonderful resources that Jenny and I mentioned are in the show notes including how you can participate in the sold out vegan Women's Summit that will be broadcast for you to participate in virtually from Los Angeles on April 8. The SHINE podcast has been self sponsored since May 2019. It is freely offered from my heartfelt desire to be in service in support of a workplace and world that works for everyone and is living in greater harmony with the Earth from conscious inclusive leadership and socially responsible business practice. I would love and appreciate your support so that I can continue to foster wonderful interviews like this one with Jenny, bringing science tips and evidence based articles to your ears. You can donate and support me by going to my Patreon page patreon.com/carleyhauck, the link is in the show notes. Your generosity helps so much. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We are all in this together and sharing is caring. You can also leave a five star review on any of your favorite podcast carriers. That way more folks learn about shine and may spread the light. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like me to address on the podcast please email me at support@carleyhauck.com. I would love to hear from you. And thank you for tuning in and being part of this community. I have some powerful episodes coming up through the end of the season, especially as we get closer to Earth Day. So until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

55. The Powerful Link Between Psychological Safety, Stress, Belonging, and Workplace Well-Being with Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2022 45:41

This season is focusing on topics related to optimizing how we live, work, and play with science, real tips that you can practice daily, as well as ideas on how we can design a workplace culture that works for everyone, and is optimizing for the well being of ourselves, our co-workers, our communities and the planet. The topic of today's solo episode is the powerful link between psychological safety, our stress response, telomeres, and workplace well being. In this episode, I will share with you the links between psychological safety, our stress response, telomeres, attachment styles, and the opportunity to design for happy healthy teams and workplace well being. I will share the scientific literature that links all of these subjects together and have some specific calls to action and daily practices that you can implement to create and sustain greater performance, collaboration, resilience and confidence in the midst of stress and or a lack of psychological safety. SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust culture and psychological safety at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes Building Trust Free Gift — https://www.leadfromlight.com Carley Links Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Links: SHINE Podcast Episode 51 — Cultivating a High Trust Culture with Susan Campbell — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast/51-cultivate-a-high-trust-culture-with-susan-campbell Carley's Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Shine Podcast Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck. I am your host, I am so happy you're here. This podcast focuses on the science spiritual perspective, an application of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices so that you can cultivate the skills on the inside to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I facilitate two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our topic today, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of our new incredible interviews. We are in season six of the SHINE podcast. Wow-wee! It's been a few years now. And we're still going strong. And this season is focusing on topics related to optimizing how we live, work, and play with science, real tips that you can practice daily. And also ideas on how we can design a workplace culture that works for everyone, and is optimizing for the well being of ourselves, our co-workers, our communities and the planet. Today's episode is with me. And it is on the powerful link between psychological safety, our stress response, telomeres, and workplace well being. Have you ever felt tormented about saying something to advocate for your feelings and needs, but you didn't speak up, because you were afraid that this might create conflict? This is normal. And it's frankly a big problem in our workplace and in the greater world due to many of us having negative experiences when we spoke up. And then it creates some kind of broken connection or conflict. In the past in our home life or at work with friends, this can often erode our sense of psychological safety, confidence. And thus diminish our greatest creative contributions to our teams in our life. In this powerful episode, I will share with you the links between psychological safety, our stress response, telomeres, attachment styles, and the opportunity to design for happy healthy teams and workplace well being. I will share some simple daily practices that give you a look at the scientific literature that links all of these subjects together and have some specific calls to action so that you can create and sustain greater performance, collaboration, resilience and confidence in the midst of stress and or a lack of psychological safety. Carley Hauck 3:46 So I've broken this episode up into a couple parts. Let's start off with stress resiliency, which is something I've been diving deeply into writing about facilitating doing research on so I have a lot to say. Let's begin with our perception of what is stressful or difficult. So bring to mind a situation that is quite challenging, and is ongoing in your life. When you think about dealing with the situation, do you feel a sense of hope and confidence? Or do you feel fear and anxiety? How much are you ruminating? And having repetitive thoughts about this situation in your life? On a daily basis? How much do you avoid thinking about it or pushing away feelings associated with this situation? And how much does this situation negatively affect your self esteem? In other words, do you feel critical of yourself based on this experience? Is there shame or blame? I asked these reflective questions to build your self awareness, but also to see that the way that we perceive stress really impacts the mind, the body, and thus, how we react or we respond. This internal narrative about what or who is safe can either grow our resilience to stress, or it can diminish it. But first we need to understand how the mind, emotions and body are all connected. And I also want to talk about how our stress response and our nervous system relates to psychological safety at work. So before I do that, for those folks who aren't familiar with the term psychological safety, let me define it. psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished, criticized, excluded or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. It is interpersonal risk taking. It has been documented by the research literature to be the number one predictor of high performance, inclusion, innovation and trust at work. Dr. Amy Edmondson, who I am honored to call a friend and mentor, is a distinguished professor at Harvard Business School, and is author of the fearless organization. She has spent over 25 years of her life researching the concept of psychological safety. And her servant leadership has helped leaders in business prioritize changing structures and systems to create spaces where everyone can feel safe and bring their whole selves to work. Carley Hauck 7:04 Here's the connection between stress and psychological safety. People experience stress in many different ways. And I will share some of the research that I was a part of around increasing our resilience to stress. While working as an organizational and leadership consultant, I had the wonderful opportunity and privilege to be a lead consultant for two NIH funded studies at UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. These studies were looking at the long term benefits of mindfulness and meditation, contemplative practices, on our resilience to stress, emotional well being and the prevention of disease. I have been a long time meditator and was teaching on various forms of meditation and contemplative practices in community centers, with leaders and businesses as a way to enhance resiliency, distress, well being at work, empathy, emotional intelligence, and effective communication. And I was invited to bring this expertise to these studies. And one of these studies, ironically, was called shine, which is also the name of my new book. And I'll speak to that a little bit later. But the shine study had the principal investigator of Dr. Elissa Epel. Elissa is one of the premier researchers on telomeres, and more on telomeres and just a little bit, but this context is relevant. The brain scans for threats more than five times per second, and responds in about 15 milliseconds with a whole series of physiological changes. And when the stress response is on high alert, the body produces stress hormones called cortisol and epinephrine. The heart rate is faster, the blood pressure increases. The vagus nerve, which helps to modulate our response to stress, withdraws its activity. This is why it's more challenging to breathe because our body is preparing to fight, to flee, to freeze, or to fawn in the presence of perceived danger. This is also why it's more difficult to believe that even though we're just having a perceived difficult conversation with a coworker, our body is actually saying alert, alert, alert. It's not safe. And when you suffer from chronic stress. These responses are on a low but constant alert keeping you in a state of physiological vigilance and hyper arousal. So what does it feel like for different people when they're under this level of stress? Well, these are some responses I've heard. My heart feels like it's going to come out of my chest, I can't sit still, I want to run out of the room. I freeze and my hands get sweaty and I can't take a deep breath. These examples are showcasing what happens in our physical bodies when we perceive an experience as stressful. Carley Hauck 10:47 Let's talk about telomeres. It's been found that people that were exposed to more hardship trauma, prolonged stress at a young age, and or currently have had long exposures to stress have shorter telomeres or less telomere race. For example, caregivers have been found to have shorter telomeres due to the ongoing burden of stress in their lives. In addition to those that have had more trauma, they have also been associated with shortened telomeres. So when we think about folks that have repeatedly felt excluded, and have been navigating, for example, systemic racism, they are likely carrying more trauma and have been under prolonged periods of stress. And why does telomeres and our stress response matter? Well, let's think about workplace well being and having a flourishing happy life, which a lot of businesses are prioritizing more now than ever since the pandemic and the rise of mental health issues. So a telomere and telomerase are most associated with cell renewal. Our cells are always renewing, and telomeres protect our chromosomes and our genetic DNA. A telomere protects the chromosome during the process of cell division. In other words, it absorbs the hardest blow when our cells divide. And this is important because as cells divide and renew, they need their chromosome cargos, which are essentially the genetic instruction manuals, or genes to be delivered intact. For example, how else would a child's body know it was going to be tall and strong and specific to that child's unique DNA if the telomeres didn't keep the DNA protected. As we get older, our telomeres shorten. And our cells experience more and more divisions. Folks who have longer telomeres are living longer into their 80s and 90s. And typically have the lowest risk of death from cancers, heart disease and other immune system related problems. Those folks who have shorter telomeres have weakened immune systems and are prone to more health problems in cancer. Why this matters is that the more chronic stress burnout, toxic work environments, trauma, or even the environmental health problems that we're all navigating due to a warming climate. This puts more stress on our bodies. And then we have the real or perceived narrative that ‘I am not safe'. If there is, for example, a wildfire like many have experienced in places or a shortage of water in the world due to climate change. This is a real threat to our survival. But we can similarly feel the same bodily experiences of arousal when speaking to a challenging coworker or parent. If we are aware of a state of fear, when our autonomic nervous system is threatened, we really struggle to access our creativity, innovation or focus to be inclusive, collaborative or high performing. I myself have had long periods of chronic stress as an entrepreneur because there's just so much up and down risk taking the first couple years in a startup or a new business. You're working insane numbers of hours. And on top of that my childhood was also very challenging, and it didn't feel psychologically safe. So, at an early age, I had the wisdom to get into my body to start learning ways to regulate my response to stress. I began a yoga practice at 17. And I began meditating at 19. And this was all through just reading books because yoga and meditation where I lived was not the norm. This was a healthy adaptation to stress, and it did support greater resiliency in my mind, in my body, but also recovering telomere length. Carley Hauck 15:54 There are many research proven practices that I will share, to support you to create greater resilience and well being in your teams and workplaces. And these skills have everything to do with bringing our best and wholesales to work, leading consciously building trust, and high performing healthy and happy teams. I will get to these skills soon. For now I want to geek out a bit on the neurobiology of stress and our nervous system. I'm going to share the three parts of the nervous system. And the third part is often not talked about, but it has everything to do with psychological safety at work. The central nervous system, this nervous system relays our sense of safety. It is like the main switchboard of our body. The nervous system is the command center of all our other systems, our digestion, or circulatory system, etc. It gives us information about what to move towards and away from through sensation, nerve activation, neurotransmitters and other signals. It transmits and relays our sense of safety of our own body and externally to other bodies, and other human nervous systems. It's also bi directional, breathing, awareness, healthy diet, self regulation, movement, sleep, these can all influence the way our nervous system responds. For example, caffeine, too much technology, not enough sleep will heighten our levels of sympathetic nervous system arousal. Well, drinking chamomile, practicing meditation, deep breathing, gratitude or loving kindness practice may ramp it down. The polyvagal theory speaks to the brain, the throat, the face, the heart and the abdomen. And it has a much more critical place in the nervous system than originally thought. Most of us have heard of the autonomic nervous system as being two branches, which is the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. But there is another nervous system which I will speak to. The sympathetic nervous system under stress has a fight, flight freeze, fawn response, and the parasympathetic nervous system at ease has a rest and digest response. At ease, the parasympathetic nervous system drives us to move and act and we need this energy to wake up to have focus. And it allows us to slow down, rest, sleep and digest when it is at ease. You can think of the sympathetic nervous system as what it takes to get up the hill if we were in a car. And the parasympathetic nervous system is what takes us down the hill. When we move towards the threat response, this is known as the fight response. And the moving away from the threat is the flight response. If for any reason our system feels overwhelmed to navigate the situation in front of us, our parasympathetic nervous system will go into a low level freeze response. And the freeze response can manifest as an inability to move to speak or to act. We become the deer in the headlights and we can even collapse, dissociate, get dizzy, some people even lose their ability to control their bowels. Talking about our nervous system makes me feel like I want to take a deep breath with everyone. Let's just pause, take a deep breath in, let the belly rise and take a deep breath out letting it fall, two more times, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in and out. What I'm about to highlight is very important. The threat that people experience in their nervous system is not proportional to the actual threat. From the outside, you can't accurately assess the threat that an individual is experiencing. For example, if I was bitten by a German Shepherd as a kid, and my body is holding the implicit and explicit memory of this trauma, and I see a German Shepherd on a walk, who may be showcasing calmness, friendliness, he's not the least bit aggressive. But my body on the inside is responding on high alert, because of my past experience. And that is now impacting my current experience, even though it's not logical in the current moment. This is why the perception of what we believe is a stressor is so important, and so unique to each of us. Essentially, our cells are talking to our nervous system. So when your system is under stress, you don't decide how to react, your body is automatically reacting to the stressor. And its response, to fight to flee, to freeze, or to fawn is a response in the moment based on past conditions and experiences. What was modeled to you as a child, what you have tried that worked or didn't work, and where you've gotten stuck. There is nothing wrong with your reaction. You aren't stronger or weaker based on how you react to stress. Your nervous system is healthy. And you have the ability to learn, adapt and become more resilient to stress, which is what we will continue to speak to. So both the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system are imperative to our flourishing and both are needed. But as I've been referring to there is one nervous system that has been left out. The social nervous system is the most modern part of the nervous system and it influences the autonomic nervous system. The social nervous system is specific to mammals, you and me, this new realization came about from the polyvagal theory. Our first level of detection of safety comes from the social nervous system, because we look to other people to know if we are safe or not safe. We're often scanning facial responses of people to know if they are safe. And during the pandemic, most of our faces in public have been covered with masks. So it's made it even more challenging to understand who is safe, and who can we move towards. Our biological imperative is togetherness and physical proximity, not social distancing. Our autonomic nervous system responses include fight, flee, freeze, but in our social nervous system, we have the other F, which is known as fitting in or fawning, where we may overly please overly help so that we can feel included and are not excluded and our sense of safety remains intact. Carley Hauck 24:37 Our social nervous system is here to help us create a sense of safety and belonging. It evolved because mothers needed to take care of their young by way of facial responses and appropriate actions to meet the baby's needs. And this would allow more loyalty from the mother to child and thus the baby's survival. It was really imperative to our flourishing. The social nervous system is primed first through the mother or the person who fed us but then to the rest of the family. The social nervous system holds the primary signal. Is it safe, do we belong? Do we not belong? It also influences a person's experience of trust. The bond between the mother and child in a secure and safe way in the early years is so vital to the integration of the nervous system. The assessment of safety will look different for each individual and is determined by inner factors and outward factors, like your gender and race. Psychological and physical safety is not just perceptual, but actually different depending on these unique factors. So are you following me so far? We began with talking about our perception of stress, and how our bodies can adapt in a healthy way, or an unhealthy way, which in the research I was part of showcased more chronic illness, shortened telomeres, and a lowered immune response. I've also gone over the three different nervous systems, and how this impacts our ability to feel psychologically safe. But there's another component, which is also really important. And it refers to our attachment system. Our attachment system and style impacts our experience of psychological safety, and how we interact and relate in our adult relationships, including intimate partnerships, work relationships, and parenting caregiving dynamics. And for those of you that have listened to the podcast before, because I'm always talking about how we bring our whole selves to work, and home to work. This is important. My master's degree was in Organizational Psychology, but I also worked as a therapist. And I have been serving individuals and teams as an executive coach for over a decade while working in leadership and organizational development. Due to my interest in trying to understand what supports thriving workplaces, leaders and teams, and my own interest in how I connect, or feel disconnected to the people in my life, I have dived deep into the science, and topic of attachment styles and theory. Carley Hauck 27:53 This field is intrinsically tied to the social nervous system and how we relate to one another. My colleagues and fellow Sounds True authors like myself, Dr. Steven Taktin, and Dr. Diane Poole Heller, have contributed greatly to my knowledge of this subject, how it relates to relationship building. And guess what business is all about the relationship. I will be having another podcast episode to go more deeply into the attachment styles and its relationship to psychological safety. But for today, I wanted to just give you a quick overview. So again, our attachment style influences how we form relationships, how we communicate, and how we express and respond to caring behaviors. Unfortunately, attachment styles may also generate an assortment of unhealthy habits and behaviors that impede our ability to lead our teams well, feel safe, connected, valued and joyful. So our attachment system is an innate behavioral system that influences and even dictates how we bond with others. from infancy or even in utero, we depend on our caregivers to respond to our connection cues. Again, this relates to the social nervous system that I spoke about earlier. If for example, an infant cries out and a caregiver responds to his, her or their needs reliably and consistently, they will feel safe, cared for and wanted and they will likely approach the world primed for secure, healthy attachment. When we develop secure attachment in this way, we grew up believing the world is generally a safe place, and that others can and will be there for us, but when our needs at this vital and young part of our lives are not met, or we get inconsistent, confusing or even frightening responses from our caregivers, we may respond by adapting with insecure styles of attachment. This means that our brains develop as a way of coping with less than ideal circumstances to help us survive. This is really important to remember, most people who exhibit insecure attachment patterns did not grow up in a supportive, validating or consistent environment. And these adaptations only developed to keep us safe and alive. Carley Hauck 30:55 This can help you have self compassion and forgiveness for yourself. If you yourself came from one of those home environments, or if you discover that some of your colleagues or teammates, or friends or community have also. You see, our attachment system is our original blueprint for how we perceive and relate to others in the world around us. It colors many of our current interactions, often unconsciously. When we have developed insecure adaptations, it can make it difficult to feel safe to trust and to feel like we can get our physical and emotional needs met. And this has everything to do with psychological safety at work. But the good news is we are all wired for secure attachment; we are biologically predisposed to be securely attached to caregivers, and later to loved ones, friends, colleagues and community. But I do want to talk a little bit about trauma and attachment. Because trauma has been acknowledged more and more in our world in our workplace since the pandemic, which I experience as an opportunity for learning and growth and healing. It may seem surprising that attachment and trauma would be interconnected. But once we understand more about the attachment system, it makes perfect sense. Attachment trauma can be thought of as a broken connection with someone. In a previous podcast I interviewed a mentor and friend Dr. Susan Campbell on her recent book, and we speak a lot about attachment trauma, and how it impacts a high trust culture. The link is in the show notes if you want to listen. We all have attachment trauma. Trauma can overload the nervous system making it more difficult to stay regulated. emotional regulation is the ability to stay present and connected even in the face of hard feelings, experiences or triggers. It also helps us cope with the difficulties and the joys of life. Emotional regulation is a skill that is taught, learned and practiced. And people with secure attachment learned this skill through their early interactions with their caregivers. There was a self regulation and a co-regulation that was wired into the brain as a natural response to stress and trauma because they felt safe and secure with this caregiver. In insecure attachment, children experience overwhelm and lack of safety with others and they struggle to self and CO regulate their nervous systems, which creates a state of high alert hyper arousal or shut down hypo arousal in the brain and the nervous system. When we experience a situation which could be perceived as trauma, stress, or a trigger that reminds us of an earlier experience in life. The brain and body default to a fight flight freeze fawn pattern of arousal, making emotional regulation more difficult. And then imagine how easily we can erode high performance inclusion, innovation and effective communication normally goes out the window. Carley Hauck 34:55 So, just briefly, I will talk about the five attachment styles. And I invite you to listen to a future episode that I will be recording On the subject of attachment style and its relationship to psychological safety, but for right now, I'd love to just give you the five names and you can investigate on your own. If you feel more intrigued on this topic. Secure, avoidant, anxious, ambivalent, and disorganized. So now I've unpacked the connection and link between our stress response, our nervous system, how it impacts our immune system, our well being, attachment style, trauma, and psychological safety. There are six inner game skills that I have done a lot of research on and application with hundreds of leaders and many organizations in the last 10 years and I write extensively about in my new book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and In the World. I have seen again and again that the integration of these skills are essential for creating happy healthy teams, psychological safety at work, inclusion, innovation, and high performance. Self awareness is number one, get to know your thoughts, your feelings, motivations, physical sensations, arising and passing in the body. Meditation has been found to be one of the most effective ways to increase your self awareness. It is also associated with increased telomere length, lower rates of depression, long term reduction of body fat because we're lowering our arousal. When we have heightened arousal, we have more cortisol, cortisol tends to have us retain belly fat. And there are just so many incredible health and mind and heart benefits to meditation. There are a couple practices in chapter one of my book on starting a meditation practice, but also on the important practice of unity tasking. Number two, emotional intelligence. This includes self awareness, self regulation, which leads to social awareness, what's happening for the other person right now? What are they feeling in meeting and relationship mastery, a practice that is imperative towards creating more psychological safety and trust is understanding your triggers. Right? So if there is an experience that keeps happening, for example, in your team, or this one person does or says something that you just react in this more heightened or agitated way, this is an opportunity for you to look at that. Is this something in my past that is impacting this current experience? Or what responsibility can I take to calm down to pause so that I can come from a wise and loving place, not a reactive place. There is a lot of support in chapter two of my book on practices related to triggers. And I give trainings on these subjects all the time for teams, and in larger leadership programs. So reach out if you'd like more support. I've also written a couple free articles and there is a free practice on my website, in the resources section on a trigger practice. Number three, resilience. Resilience is determined by your thoughts, your ability to self regulate your emotions, how you are taking care of this body. And what has been found to really increase your resilience to stress is what you're thinking about the stressor. If you can orient towards a growth mindset, which might sound something like this- Well, this really stinks. But how can I see this as a challenge as something for me versus against me? If you can change your mind to see even the most difficult things in your life is a challenge you will be more resilient. And so will your telomeres. Research is found. There are many practices in chapter three of my book on growing your resilience. Number four, well being. How are you taking care of your body? Are you making time for breaks, movement, nature time yoga, healthy plant based diet, sleep? Well, if not, it's time my friend. Prioritize it. Because the more balanced and healthy your body is, the more healthy coping mechanisms you will have for the ups and downs of life. Carley Hauck 41:01 Number five, leading from love. Are you leading yourself from love, compassion, forgiveness. If not, this is going to make such a difference in how people perceive you and connect to you. The more you can turn these qualities of love, compassion and forgiveness towards yourself, the more loving and forgiving you can be towards everybody else, and their experience. It's hard to be human. We all have such sensitive nervous systems as you've learned. And we're constantly navigating complex changes that we often don't have any control over. So be kind to yourself, be kind to others. And number six, authenticity. This is about knowing yourself, being aware of your feelings, your sensations, your motivations, your needs, and, most importantly, your boundaries. When you can communicate from a clear indirect way, your authentic truth that's direct yet caring, you can build bridges versus break them down. This is the opposite of the fight flight freeze or fawn response under stress. And there's a lot of tools in chapter six of my book as well. Lastly, I'd love to give you high performers, one bonus skill, conscientiousness. When we have a greater sense of concern for others, and a deeper purpose in our lives to be in service of the greatest good. There has been a lot of scientific literature that says this increases our longevity and stress response. If you want some role models of conscientious, conscious, inclusive leaders that are rocking it for people and planet, this is in chapter eight of my book. I know that this was a lot to unpack, but I feel so passionate about all of these subjects. And because I'm a systems thinker, I look at the systems that inherently are intersectional and intrinsically influencing one another. Carley Hauck 43:20 If this podcast interview resonated for you, I would love to support you. Book a free consultation with me to assess the psychological safety in your culture, leadership or your team. I walk through what the process looks like in my learning and development page. The link is in the show notes. Sign up for my free gift, which highlights psychological safety daily practices for individuals, teams and leaders, go to leadfromlight.com. And when you sign up, you'll also be alerted to the latest podcasts of SHINE, or book me as a speaker to create a customized workshop for your team or your entire organization to create happy, healthy teams and build psychological safety at work. I feel delighted that I was able to give a large talk to many Capital One employees on building trust and psychological safety at work a few weeks ago, and it was very well received. Thank you so much for your attention, your time. The SHINE podcast has been self sponsored since May 2019. It is freely offered for my heartfelt desire to be in service in support of a workplace in a world that works for everyone and is living in greater harmony with the planet. I would love and appreciate your support so that I can continue to foster wonderful interviews with inspiring leaders bringing the science tips and evidence base to these important skills and practices. You can donate and support me by going to my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/carleyhauck, the link is in the show notes. Your generosity helps so much. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like to address on the podcast, email me at support@carleyhauck.com. I would love to hear from you. I have many more incredible interviews coming this season and ongoing. So until we meet again, be the light and shine the light my friend.

Taking a Stand for a Good Food System with Bruce Friedrich

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Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2022 58:00

We are kicking off season six with a conversion about the important topic of taking a stand for a good food system. I have the privilege and the delight to start this season with my friend Bruce Friedrich. Bruce is the CEO and founder of The Good Food Institute and he oversees their global strategy, working with the US leadership team and international managing directors to ensure that the Good Food Institute is maximally effective at implementing programs that deliver mission focused results. In this inspiring interview, Bruce and I talk about the importance of taking a stand for a good food system. We speak about how he got started in the plant based and cultivated meat industry, and one of the best ways we can mitigate the warming of the planet, which is to increase the plant based and cultivated meat products and policy to support these products to market so that we can reduce the meat on our plates. Bruce also shares some fascinating statistics and science on this topic for our listeners, as the Good Food Institute is one of the incredible vehicles that supports the research policy and industry in this space worldwide. Lastly, we talk about the future of food being a combination of plant based and cultivated meat. Many big food companies are supporting and adopting this necessary and sustainable shift. This is one of the many interviews of the season that will support you to optimize your inner game so you can lead consciously at work in the world. Thanks for tuning in. Guest Links: Bruce Friedrich https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucegfriedrich/ GFI on Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/thegoodfoodinstitute/?hl=en https://futurefoodtechsf.com/ The Next Global Agricultural Revolution Ted Talk by Bruce Friedrich- https://www.ted.com/talks/bruce_friedrich_the_next_global_agricultural_revolution?language=en GFI.org https://carleyhauck.com/podcast/43-the-future-of-food-is-cultivated-meat-with-curt-albright SHINE Links: Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Well Being Resources: Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Website Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast Carley's Patreon Page — https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck and I am your host. This podcast focuses on the science, spiritual perspective, and the application of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now, I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our incredible guest and interview today, please go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any wonderful episodes. For those of you joining for the first time, welcome. This season is going to focus on topics related to optimizing how we live, work, and play. So that we can cultivate a strong inner game. The inner game is what I refer to, in my book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and In the World as the internal operating model that we can develop on the inside. So we bring our whole and best selves to our teams, our workplaces, our community, and our relationships. The inner game rules the outer game, and I have the privilege and the delight to start season six off with my friend Bruce Friedrich and he has a pretty badass inner game y'all. We are going to be talking about the important topic of taking a stand for a good food system. Bruce is the CEO and founder of The Good Food Institute. And in this inspiring interview, we speak about how he got started in the plant based and cultivated meat industry. We talk about one of the best ways we can mitigate the warming of the planet, which is to increase the plant based and cultivated meat products and policy to support these products to market so that we can reduce the meat on our plates. In fact, a recent study from the UK a few weeks ago just documented that 40%, 47%, of carbon emissions are not coming from transportation, which is where most of governmental resources go to but livestock farms and the way that we eat. If we can bring mindfulness to our food and consumption patterns and habits, we will ensure a more regenerative world and thus can bring back wild forests and have all the sustenance that nature provides. In this interview, Bruce also shares some fascinating statistics and science on this topic for our listeners, as the Good Food Institute is one of the incredible vehicles that supports the research policy and industry in this space worldwide. Lastly, we talk about the future of food being a combination of plant based and cultivated meat because the majority of food companies are supporting and adopting this necessary and sustainable shift. Bruce oversees the Good Food Institute's global strategy working with the US leadership team and international managing directors to ensure that the Good Food Institute is maximally effective at implementing programs that deliver mission focused results. He is a TED Fellow and his 2019 TED talk has been viewed 2 million times and translated into dozens of languages. He has been called the American food hero by Eating Well magazine. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and also holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics. This is one of the many interviews of this season that will support you to optimize your inner game so you can lead consciously at work in the world. Thanks for tuning in. Carley Hauck 4:30 Hello, everyone. I am so excited to share with you a wonderful leader and human. Bruce Friedrich, thank you so much for being on the Stein Podcast. Bruce Friedrich 4:43 I'm delighted to be here, Carley, thanks so much for having me. Carley Hauck 4:46 Thank you. Well, Bruce we met last year and I have just been so impressed and inspired. I've been following your journey for a couple years but I finally, I think I just posted something about you on LinkedIn because I couldn't contain my enthusiasm anymore. And I'm just so excited to share your story and your leadership today. So, before we go deep into your journey of conscious, inclusive leadership, how would you define conscious, inclusive leadership? And why is that important to you? Bruce Friedrich 5:24 Well, let me start currently by thanking you for that insanely kind introduction, undeserved, but super gracious. And I'm really grateful. Conscious, inclusive leadership. I mean, it's, it feels cliche, but I really do like the concept of servant leadership. And there has been a lot written about servant leadership. And at least for me, I've mostly found it, I've mostly found servant leadership writing to really be quite good. But the phrase basically encapsulates the concept really well. And so I'm not gonna, I think, add much color for people who are versed in it. But really recognizing that the role of leadership is to help people vocationally self-actualize. So for all of my time, or close to all of my time, running organizations or running departments, what I have tried to do is provide a space where people remember why they're doing the work they're doing. And that's particularly easy to do at some place, like the Good Food Institute, and probably pretty easy to do, that most nonprofit organizations, you have a mission, you have a vision. Everybody who is there is already excited about the mission and the vision. And it's just taking the time to, as frequently as it doesn't get old for team members, remind people that although things can sometimes feel a bit like grind, the mission and the vision or they're helping us to charge forward. So for GFI, radically transforming the way that food is made with all of the benefits that I imagine we'll be chatting a little bit more about. And reminding people sort of keeping people on the team and focused on that. Which is easier said than done to some degree. But I think at a nonprofit organization, not that difficult. And then the other two elements of vocational self actualization. I really love Daniel Pink's book Drive, which is about this topic. And the other two things that he talks about. One of them is putting people into roles where they feel challenged, but not too challenged. As somebody who's spent a couple years teaching in inner city, Baltimore, through Teach for America, and studied education at Johns Hopkins, it's kind of the theme also of how education works. And how you move somebody forward. If it's too easy, you're outside the sweet spot. And if it's too hard if people throw up their hands and disengage. And I think that same concept is what you're going for, as a leader, leading a team. And then the third element is sometimes called autonomy. Although oftentimes people get the wrong idea about vocational autonomy and think it means do whatever you want to do, which, obviously it doesn't, people are at the organization and hired into specific roles. And at least at GFI, we set objectives and key results. So everybody is responsible for the key results that they have set on an annual basis, and then we recalibrate a couple times a year. So we're checking in three times a year in total on key results. So we've sort of reframed autonomy as significant reliance on the team at the frontline team member, to be the one who figures out how the work gets done. I'm still part of a team, you know, people are counting on you, but people are also supporting you. But strong mission, strong like focus on mission and a high degree of autonomy to figure out how to get the work done. And then challenge but not to challenge and the role of the conscious inclusive leader is to create that for people to help people self actualize in their vocations. Carley Hauck 10:03 Hmm, that's wonderful. Yeah, I love the reference to servant leadership and the focus on mission autonomy. And really focusing more on results versus, you know, checking. Did you do this? Right, you know, which I think, typically tends to be old fashioned performance reviews, but they're not really empowering, or inspiring people to bring their best. Bruce Friedrich 10:29 Yeah, yeah, I think that's sort of the micro managerial mindset is pretty demoralizing for people. And, and I think what's like a GFII, we do have a very rigorous hiring process. And, and we treat the idea, we really want people to come to GFI with full awareness of what the organization is that they're joining. So our hiring process gives people a bit of a snapshot into that. But we also want to make sure that once we bring people onto the team, we feel confident, once they're on-boarded and trained, we feel confident, relying on them to represent the organization and to do the work without anything that approaches or might even look like micromanagement. So we do, we go out of our way to hire phenomenally competent, and also extraordinarily kind team members. And if we get that right, which we do the vast majority of the time, that makes conscious, inclusive leadership for the people on the leadership team a lot easier to feel confident leading in that way. Carley Hauck 11:47 Wonderful. Yeah. You're definitely looking and scanning for the right people to meet the culture. So tell our listeners more about the trajectory of GFI, the Good Food Institute, when it started, how it evolved, where it is today, what is the vision going forward? Bruce Friedrich 12:12 Um, wow, that is a big, Carley Hauck 12:16 It's a mouthful. Try to put it into, you know, a couple bites, if you can. Bruce Friedrich 12:22 Yeah. So the genesis of GFI, was really looking at what the Beyond Meat folks, Ethan Brown and his team and the Impossible Foods folks, Pat Brown and his team, and at that point, Hampton Creek now, Eat Just, and this idea that we have been for decades, educating people with a view toward convincing them that they should eat less meat or no meat. And the brainstorm of the folks in the alternative protein movement is that that endeavor will be facilitated in a colossal way, if we can give people alternatives that don't require sacrifice. So for decades, we've been trying to convince people that through the moral weight of the argument to eat less meat or no meat, and per capita meat consumption, even in developed economies, where education is the greatest, it just keeps going up. So illustrative of that, is that even in the United States, where people best understand the external costs of meat production, per capita, meat consumption was the highest it had been in recorded history. In 2019 it went up, in 2020. I haven't seen figures for 2021. But I think the early predictions are that it will have gone up again in 2021. Carley Hauck 13:58 I feel so outraged hearing that that's a surprise. Wow. Bruce Friedrich 14:02 The remarkable thing about that, Carley is every, every year, in January and February, there are these articles about all of the people who are saying to pollsters that they are eating less meat, or no meat. And it's just not true, at least according to the statistics from USDA, and I think they're right. People are not good at evaluating their own behavior when they're answering questions and polls. There's the degree to which people say what their aspiration is. And it's sort of, I mean, it's similar to the vast numbers of people who if you ask them, Are you trying to lose weight? Will say yes, and yet, every single year for decades, obesity and overweight has gone up. So even as people understand what needs to happen, to not be overweight or obese, nevertheless, they need whole new colors for the maps to look at, you know what percentage of each state is overweight or obese on and it just gets worse and worse the same thing is true on with meat. People learn more and more about the external costs and harms. But where food is concerned physiology it's the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, its physiology. And for the vast majority of people, food is not something that is rational, and where ethics, or even weight loss figure in as much as people might prefer. And so at GFI, following the lead of companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods and Hampton Creek, leaning into the idea that instead of working against human nature, we can work with human nature. And we can give people the precise products that they are craving, but we can make them in a way that does not have the external costs. So we can create the precise meat experience using plants. Or we can create actual animal meat by culturing the meat, instead of growing vast quantities of crops and feeding it to animals with all of the global health and biodiversity and climate and animal cruelty harms that come with the current system. Carley Hauck 16:34 You've really honed in on the science, the policy, the research around these two distinct subjects in when we think about eating healthier, plant based, or the cultivation of clean meat, we could say or cultivated meat. And I know that there are lots of resources and education on the Good Food Institute around this. But I feel curious, you know, for you, your evolution, why does this matter so much to you? I mean, it's evident, you know, to me, but I'd love to hear so you can share with the listeners because, you know, again, there's an ethical, there's a conscious, deeper internal motivation that is driving you that not everybody has. And I'd love it if you could spark that in everyone. Bruce Friedrich 17:31 Well, I mean for me, for me, it does go all the way back to my confirmation classes in the mid 1980s. And reading Matthew 25, which is for me, it has to do with Catholicism, but I think you can put it into a context for any faith or no faith, like what does it mean to be an ethical human being in the world. And in a world where hundreds of millions of people are living a nutritional deficit, hundreds of millions of people, their caloric intake is not sustaining basic bodily function to the degree that 10s of millions of people die every year from nutrition deficit related causes. That was the thing that was motivating for me and starting GFI, the sort of foundational question was, how do we feed close to 10 billion people without burning the planet to a crisp. And if we're going to add another couple billion people by 2050, and we're already living in a world where somewhere on the order of 700 million people are living in extreme poverty, we need a system that where that doesn't require that the vast majority of calories that are created by our farm system are given to farm animals. So the most efficient animal at turning crops into meat is the chicken. And according to the World Resources Institute, it takes nine calories of crops to get one calorie back out in the form of chicken meat. That's literally 800% food waste. So for all of your listeners who are concerned about food waste, which I'm guessing is 100% of them. We are rightly outraged at the fact that something like 40% of all food that's produced is wasted. But the simple biological fact is if you feed eight calories to a chicken, nine calories to check to get one one calorie back out, you've wasted eight of those calories you've went to 800% food waste just in the nature of what the production system looks like. With cattle, it's 4,000% food waste 40 calories and to get one calorie back out in a world where hundreds of millions of people are living in extreme poverty. And that is just morally outrageous. And then you factor in climate change. Carley Hauck 19:55 And we're running out of water because we're in a drought. When we think about, for example, you mentioned the chicken, you know, eggs, and how much water it requires to, again, feed the chickens to be able to give them the feed, and then all the water loss as well. And you've mentioned Hampton Creek now, Eat Just, Josh Tetrick is a friend. And he's one of the leaders that I highlighted in my recent book. And so I talked to Josh many, many times really understanding his motivation, the journey of Just and how they've gotten to where they are, but you know, the product that they had been able to bring to market and distribute in a much bigger way is the just ag and they're also number ginning on the cultivated meatspace as well, just to add that in. Bruce Friedrich 20:47 Yeah, the United Nations released a 408 page report titled Livestock's Long Shadow. And they said, the inefficiency involved in growing crops to feed them to animals so that we can eat animals, you know, further to what you just said, if it takes nine calories into a chicken to get one calorie back out, that's nine times the water, nine times the herbicides and pesticides, nine times the land. And then for cattle, it's 40 times for pork, it's somewhere on the order of 13 to 15 times, for eggs or dairy, it's four to six times, that is just vast amounts of waste. And the UN report, they said, whatever environmental issue you're looking at, from the smallest and most local to the largest and most global, the inefficiency of producing animal foods is one of the top three causes. So shifting to making meat from plants, turning the meat directly into plants, or cultivating meat directly from cells, where you don't waste the vast majority of the calories fed to the animal on simply allowing the animal to exist or turning it into bones, or feathers or other bits of the animal that we don't eat. It's just a far more efficient process across all of the environment. And it also I mean, just two things to toss out quickly. One of them is antibiotic resistance, more than 70% of all antibiotics produced by the pharmaceutical industry globally are fed to farm animals. And that is leading to antibiotic resistance, which could lead to the end of modern medicine. No antibiotics are required for plant based or cultivated meat, so it takes the risk of your food causing antibiotic resistance from huge to zero. Carley Hauck 22:40 Let's talk about, for people that I'm sure you know, I'm sure are aware but why are they needing to feed antibiotics to all these animals? I mean, you and I know, but could you just lay it out? Bruce Friedrich 22:51 Um, it Yeah, it's two things. The first one is they discovered decades ago, if you feed antibiotics to farm animals for reasons that veterinarians still don't understand, the animals will convert food into meat significantly more quickly. And then they also discovered that factory farms are viable if you use prophylactic antibiotics. So you couldn't cram 50,000 chickens into a shed without colossal death losses, if you were not drugging the animals up prophylactically. So it's not that they're using antibiotics to treat sick animals, it's that they're using antibiotics to allow animals to live in intensive conditions that would otherwise kill vast numbers of them, and make the factory farming system less profitable. So it's kind of a dual benefit. And it's interesting, the number of times the pharmaceutical and industrial farming industry in the United States has gotten sort of another bite at the apple where FDA will say, okay, they're going to voluntarily not use antibiotics for growth promotion anymore. And front page news and the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, you know, victory on antibiotics and farm animals. And yet, year after year, since that announcement, maybe eight or 10 years ago, antibiotic use has actually gone up. Just the prescriptions no longer say that it's for growth promotion, they say it's to prophylactically keep the animals alive. And oh, hey, it also causes them to grow more quickly. Who knew? It's really sort of a remarkable example of the degree to which the agencies that are supposed to be regulating these industries, all that aren't. Carley Hauck 24:54 Well, thank you for laying all of that out for our listeners. So I know I asked you a very big question. And I'm tracking our conversation. So you know, we started off with your deeper motivation, of wanting to be more ethical, more conscious, maybe coming more from your early days, probably as a child, learning more about Catholicism, but also then seeing the total inefficiency of how are we going to feed all of these people with our limited resources, and with our ecosystem already under so much duress, and on top of that, this inhumane way of, you know, nourishing our bodies through cruelty towards the animals when it's not necessary. And so going back to the Good Food Institute, there's been a real focus on science and industry and policy around plant based products, but also around the science and development of cultivated meat. And I feel curious if you could share a little bit more about the science of cultivated meat, because you've already talked a bit about, you know, slaughter houses, so to speak, and livestock farms. And I think there's a lot of information that is not clear around cultivated meat and why that would be such a better option. Bruce Friedrich 26:26 Yeah, absolutely. And one thing just to say about GFI. And I guess, sort of this background for this conversation, on the GFI website, which is just GFI dot org is pretty much Wikipedia, plus, you know, Wikipedia with like scientific curation, on alternative proteins. So if you go there. Carley Hauck 26:48 Yes, it's fabulous. And we're gonna leave a link in the show notes. I know, the website's incredible. Bruce Friedrich 26:53 Thank you. And yes, if anybody would like a deeper dive into cultivated meat production, you can go there, you can get there either through in the top nav, upper left, clicking on cultivated, or if you want a deep dive into the science, one, row down, click on science, and that will. So there's sort of two ways to get there, depending on whether you're more interested in cultivated meat as your primary interest or the science of creating meat, without live animals as your primary motivation. But until GFI existed, nobody had plotted out the technological readiness of any of these technologies. So you had people like Ethan and Pat focused on creating meat from plants. Or you had, well, nobody really other than Uma Valetti, the point at which GFI started, it was the only company that had been founded. And he had just been accepted into the Indy Bio, into the Indy Bio Accelerator at roughly, well, actually, the exact same month that GFI started that I started working on GFI. So we sort of grew up together, which was fun. But with all of these companies, nobody had, it was I have an idea. And then I have a company, I have an idea. And then I have a company, and nobody had taken a step back and said what is the technological readiness of the idea of thorough biomimicry of meat with plants? What is the technological readiness of cultivating meat from cells? In other words, cross applying therapeutics technologies over to the food space? What are the critical technology elements? What are the areas that are clear? What are the areas that are super unclear? Where should we be applying our scientific inquisitivity and really answering these questions and publishing peer review articles and doing research. So GFI, probably the plurality of GFI team members across all of our offices around the world are scientists and it's basically attempting to open source the science in a way that will be helpful to these entire industries as well as the basic science that we're trying to generate more and more of on university campuses. And the thing that's better on both the the cultivated meat side and the plant based meat side and in the case of cultivated meat, it's basically just like you can take a seed or a cutting from a plant and bathe the seed in nutrients, put it in hospitable soil and cause the seed to grow into a plant. You can do the same thing with cells from a chicken or a pig or a cow or a salmon where you bathe the cells in nutrients and the cells multiply and grow and become actual chicken meat. or pork meat or salmon, meat, or whatever else but without the need for a live animal. And we've been doing that for quite a while in therapeutics, doing tissue engineering. And obviously, therapeutics is going to be a much more expensive endeavor, it's going to require medical grade ingredients. So the trick is to figure out how do you cross-apply what we already know to food. And it has all of the benefits we were just chatting about. There's no live animals, so there's no cruelty to animals, there's no need for antibiotics, there's no possibility of increasing pandemic risk. There is a fraction of the climate change, as well as a fraction of the land use required. And then all of the environmental benefits that we were talking about just a minute ago. Carley Hauck 30:56 Wonderful, well, thank you for sharing that. And we're seeing new products, you know, in all of these pretty much standard meats, you know, we're seeing products that are either cultivated or plant based in the seafood space, in the beef space, in the egg space. We already talked about Just, I'm in San Diego today. And a company that I've been following, and I'm feeling very excited about is BlueNalu. And they're based here. I also know that on your website, you have created a partnership with the World Sustainability Organization to start to certify plant based seafood products under the Friend of the Sea certification program so that people know that this is not, you know, harming the planet. Could you share a little bit more about that, too? That's very exciting. Bruce Friedrich 31:50 Yeah, thank you. We're, I mean, one of the things that we're really working hard to do is frame plant based and cultivated meat, as meat. So just like your phone, that probably most people listening, have a phone in their pocket or within reach, and it's your cell phone. 25 years ago, very few people were using phones that didn't have cords, and it's still a phone. 25 years ago, there was no camera phone that was invented I think 21 years ago in South Korea or Japan. And nevertheless, your camera is still a camera, even though it doesn't have analog film. So when we think about seafood in the case of the relationships that we're building with sustainable seafood certifiers, but also with terrestrial animals, this is not an alternative to meat. This is an alternative way of making meat. So what Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are doing is making meat but doing it from plants because meat is the experience of meat. It's not the production process of getting there. And similarly cultivated meat is meat and plant based and cultivated seafood are seafood. So in talking with the sustainable seafood certifiers about using their sustainable seafood certification on behalf of companies like BlueNalu. They're in San Diego, and then also companies like Good Catch and other plant based seafood companies. We think it is critically important to help consumers in the world recognize that this is the same product they love, just produced in a way that doesn't have all the harms. Carley Hauck 33:50 Mm hmm. Wonderful. Well, and when we think about climate change, I mean, protecting and saving our oceans is so important because if we don't have our oceans, like we're 70% water. I feel like there's such a need to really have people start to transition and shift away from seafood and I believe in 2020 Seaspiracy, the documentary that was put out by Netflix was one of the most watched documentaries. So again, you know, more people are becoming more educated about the underbelly, the dark underbelly of the seafood industry and the havoc that that's causing, but as we started the podcast interview with it's still interesting that these patterns continue to repeat themselves, even when there's education and for me who studies systems and behavior change and, you know, bring a lot of different tools and learning pathways to support leaders and organizations to shift. It takes a lot for people to change their behaviors. And I find there often has to be, you know, something really personal that impacts or affects them or a lot of suffering, unfortunately. And I just see, you know, if we don't make these shifts, and I imagine you agree with me, there's just gonna be so much suffering that we could avoid right now. Bruce Friedrich 35:22 Yeah, and I mean, one of the things that we point out at GFI is across the issues, that these better ways of promoting meet, address. The people who are most adversely impacted are the people who are already suffering the most. So the people who are most adversely impacted by climate change, in addition to being the people who did the least to contribute to it, are the most vulnerable human populations. Similarly COVID-19 sent more than 100 million people into extreme poverty. None of those people were in developed economies, they were all in developing economies, lots of them in rural India, or Sub Saharan Africa. The same thing is true of the end of working antibiotics, which is the end of modern medicine that's going to most adversely impact people who can least afford medical care and don't have access to the medical care that you and I and probably 100% of your listeners have access to. And that doesn't even get into animals, billions of animals whose lives are categorized by just unmitigated misery throughout their entire lives. And so, so alternative proteins, correct for all of those harms. They don't, it's worth noting, solve for every harm and injustice across the entire food system chain. But they do solve for a lot of things that are worth solving for, as we have we, as we've been chatting about. So it's not a radical restructuring of the entire system. But certainly shifting from the way that meat has been produced for the last 12,000 years, to a way of producing meat that doesn't cause all of these harms. It's pretty spectacular. Carley Hauck 37:28 I agree. And so going back to the wide reaching arms that the Good Food Institute has, you started in the US, but as we were talking about before we started the recording, you're in Singapore and Europe, Brazil, you have expansion happening in Japan and South Korea. And there's areas that you're focusing on in science and industry and policy in education, and solutions. What is the vision with all these incredible locations and people coming together? I'd love to hear. Bruce Friedrich 38:09 Thanks, Carley. Yeah, so GFI right now, it's kind of a network of NGOs. So we have about 140 Full time Team members 75 of them in the US, 65 of them across our five affiliates in India, Israel, Brazil, Asia Pacific, as you said, out of Singapore, and then Europe, we have offices in Brussels and in London, on and the focus is really, to sort of the organizational battle cry, is to get governments to fund alternative protein open access research, and to incentivize private sector activity in the same way and for the same reasons that governments are doing that on climate change mitigation, and biodiversity. So 190-something I think governments have signed to the Paris agreement to keep climate change, hopefully under 1.5 degrees Celsius, but definitely under 2.0. That is a literal and scientific impossibility, unless meat consumption goes down. And alternative proteins are probably the only way that we are going to cause conventional meat consumption to go down. UN is predicting 70 to 100% more meat production by 2050. So alternative proteins, making meat from plants, cultivating it from cells is the only food and ag solution to climate change mitigation, that analogizes to renewable energy and electrification of transport. Carley Hauck 39:53 I want to just pause us there for a minute. That was, that was big. I just want everyone to listen to that. digest it. The only way. Okay, first, please keep going. Thank you. Bruce Friedrich 40:05 Yeah, no, I appreciate that. Currently, we have been trying to convince people to eat less meat, as I said earlier for 50 plus years. And yet per capita meat consumption just keeps going up. Carley Hauck 40:20 That's what's going on inside of me, Okay, keep going, I'm sorry. Bruce Friedrich 40:22 Most of the 70 to 100% meat that's going to be produced by 2050 is happening in developing economies, where we are least likely to use behavior change, to convince people to eat less. But just like the goal of renewable energy is not to go around the world and say, consume less energy, especially in developing economies that would be incredibly inequitable, and immoral. The goal is to say, yes, we're, you know, we're going to consume, we're not going to try to convince people not to consume, that would be a losing battle. But we can make consumption significantly less harmful by using renewable energy, that decarbonizes the economy. Same basic thing with electric vehicles, we're not going to convince people in developing economies that they should, you know, drive less, they're already driving less than us, we're not going to go in there and say, Yes, we, you know, drive a bazillion miles a year. And you don't get to because of climate change. Both here and there we say, let's use electric vehicles and decarbonize transportation. So this is the same thing with meat. Let's decarbonize me, let's eliminate methane production from ruminant digestion. Let's eliminate nitrous oxide production from manure decomposition, let's slash co2 production from all of the extra stages of production that are unnecessary. If you shift to plant based uncultivated, let's free up vast quantities of land that can be used for bio sequestration as part of a comprehensive or curation. And so yeah, the idea of alternative proteins and sort of the GFI global battle cry is to help governments and the NGO community that's focused on climate to integrate alternative proteins as their primary and most tractable food and ag solution to climate change. Right now, there's almost nothing happening on food and ag and Bill Gates in February when he launched this, how to avoid a climate disaster book he was saying until alternative proteins, he was scratching his head on food and ag, because they couldn't come up with anything that analogized to renewable energy, they couldn't come up with anything other than programs that require vast government oversight, or require vast amounts of individual behavior change. And both of those things are not tenable. Alternative proteins, this is the one solution that allows us to address the literally 1/3 of climate change that's attributable to food and agriculture. It's absolutely essential. Carley Hauck 43:06 I believe Bill Gates is an investor in Memphis meats as well, but I think he's an investor in a few other cultivated and plant based meat companies. So he clearly believes in it as the solution part of the solution. Bruce Friedrich 43:19 Yeah, in his book, it's the one thing he's enthusiastic about on the on the food and ag side and GFI actually worked with so Breakthrough Energy ventures, his his climate venture fund, spun off into Breakthrough Energy, which is an NGO, and GFI worked with them on their policy proposals around this, and, and on food and ag, the one thing they're calling for governments to do is exactly what we're calling for governments to do, which is fund Open Access science and incentivize private sector activity in this area. Carley Hauck 43:52 Well, wonderful, well, in order to have people shift to eating a different way, and therefore changing the food system, it sounds like we need to have more really wonderful products, going to market that people can buy, more education, but then also shifts in the greater system with policy and industry. Would you summarize that as kind of the two pathways or is there another way? Bruce Friedrich 44:19 Yes, I mean, so GFI, as you rightly noted, we focus on science because we need to build the scientific ecosystem and then the science feeds into policy and industry. So GFI's three programmatic areas are science policy, and industry. And on the industry front, we do think we've had a lot of luck working with the really big food and meat companies, which is probably the thing we've been most pleasantly surprised by is the openness of the world's largest to accompany all of the world's largest meat food companies appear to be really open to this new, better way of making meat and all of them are moving in this direction. And that we think are laudable and super encouraging. Carley Hauck 45:13 Can you name a couple of them? Bruce Friedrich 45:15 Oh, the largest meat company in the world is JBS, they just put $100 million into cultivated meat. And they have launched their entire plant based meat lines in both Brazil, where they are predominantly based. And in the US, where JBS US is certainly in the top three US based meat companies. But JBS globally is number one, Nestle similarly largest food company in the world is, is we're seeing similar activity on both the plant based and the cultivated meat side. So all of them or all of them are moving in this direction in ways that we think are super encouraging. Carley Hauck 52:52 That's wonderful. And then we have these, you know, smaller startups that have wonderful products. And one of our friends, Curt Albright, has several portfolio companies. There's also you know, this, which has really supported a lot of incredible products to market and distributing them far and wide. So it is happening, and there's a lot of food tech entrepreneurs. And then the system, you know, changing, changing the system, where do you feel inspired, that the systems are changing. And I'll also just name an area that I felt really inspired by earlier in the year. And we're only on January 14 today. But California, which is a huge state in the United States, has now created a new law for composting, which is fabulous when we think about the mitigation of climate change and soil regeneration. And that is a system that I've been wanting to shift for a long time. So I'm hoping that other states will follow that lead. So I use as an example of are there other systems that you're seeing shift that can support more of this, of this greater change happening within the food system? Bruce Friedrich 47:13 Yeah, I mean, the thing that's most exciting to me about a shift to alternative proteins is the global potential. So GFI is not in Singapore or Israel, because we are focused on what people are eating in Singapore and Israel. And similarly, we're not opening in South Korea in Japan this year, with a focus on what people are eating in Korea, South Korea or Japan. The science that happens in Singapore or Israel can take over nationally, this is, you know, back to the idea of analogizing to renewable energy and electric vehicles. The advances in one country have positive global impact because science is global. So, um, something like USDA, putting $10 million into a consortium of half a dozen universities led out of Tufts and Virginia Tech, focused on cultivated meat strikes us as a colossally good sign. Something like the National Food strategy in the UK, recommending 125 million pounds, about $180 million in private sector support for alternative proteins. And that's on the back of even more encouraging stuff that's happening in places like Singapore and Israel. And we're optimistic about governments in Japan and South Korea, basically creating something like the space race, but focused on food. And we see the systems changing, and you're seeing it with more and more scientists, you're seeing more and more governments taking this seriously. And all of the world since we were just talking about all of the world's biggest food and meat companies, recognizing that this could very well be the future of how meat is made, and wanting to be out in front of it. So it's systems change of a system that, you know, meat production has been done basically the same way for more than 10,000 years, and looking at shifting that to a new and better and less harmful way. Carley Hauck 49:22 Wonderful. Well, I know that there are lots of resources, we've talked a lot about some of the options from the Good Food Institute. I also feel curious if you might point our listeners to conferences, to maybe a book that you would really recommend if they're, if they're still kind of on the verge of shifting, they want to eat more plant based. They want to, you know, be more vegan in their lifestyle. I mean, all the information is out there. Hopefully this interview is inspiring more of that bigger step forward, but it's always great to leave resources are tips, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Bruce Friedrich 50:04 Well, I would encourage people to go to gfi.org/newsletters and see which of the GFI newsletters are of interest to you. We do also have gfi.org/community. We have monthly, two different monthly webinars. One of them is the business of alternative proteins. And the other is the science of alternative proteins for people who are interested. And if you sign up for our newsletter, we tag all of the conferences and events that are happening in alternative proteins, whether they're GFI events, and we have, as noted, at least 24 a year. And then we have lots of focused events on the various reports that we are publishing as well. And then we fund a lot of science. So we'll have events with the scientists that were funding and that sort of thing. And all of the upcoming conferences. My favorite conference is probably the Future of Food Tech conference, which happens in March in the Bay Area. And then June in New York City. And October, early October, in London, although that is pretty entrepreneurial focused. GFI has for the last number of years had our annual good food conference. But I think we probably are not going to do that this year. So that we can lean in to a lot more sort of one off focused webinars, and people can find out about all of those by signing up for one or more of our newsletters. Carley Hauck 5139 Wonderful. Well, this has been a fabulous conversation, I feel like I could talk to you for hours. I always learn a lot in these interviews. And if there is, you know, anything else that you'd love to share, I'd love to give you the floor. Bruce Friedrich 51:57 That's very kind of you, Carley. Thank you. I mean, I guess the main thing is, for people who are listening really think about where you can plug in. So alternative proteins, we are working very, very hard to make alternative proteins the way that meat, dairy, eggs are created for climate mitigation, to stop biodiversity loss, to keep antibiotics working to prevent the next pandemic to address cruelty to animals. This is a vocational way to spend your life that it's really worth, the time and the effort and super satisfying. So just challenge people to think about how they can plug in. And also just to note that GFI is pretty much always hiring. So we're about 140 people now and we'll be north of 200 by the end of 2022. So feel free to check out options at gfi.org/careers. And again, if you sign up for one of the newsletters, you'll find out about new openings as they come up. Carley Hauck 53:01 Wonderful, thank you. And I also wanted to just give a little light, there was a podcast that I did last year with our friend Curt Albright and we talk more about the future of food and we talk about some of the portfolio companies and products that he is supporting. So for folks that are curious about all the amazing products that they could try, there's a lot of links in the show notes and we talk about them also on the interview. But I would also say if you're living in an area where you don't see your favorite product for example in your Whole Foods or your natural you know food grocery store, ask for it it's so important to ask and ask repeatedly if they still don't get it in the store because you are the customer and companies and especially health food stores are going to listen to the customer. So for example I was living in Asheville, North Carolina, or outside of Asheville, North Carolina and they did not have Good Catch. And I asked for it again and again. And they then brought it in and I think I probably wasn't the only one but if I was then it worked. And you know sometimes you just have to look through the aisles a little bit more. What I wish would happen, I'm just gonna put it out there, is that the alternative based seafood and other products we're not at the very bottom of the aisle where nobody can see it or it's like there's cobwebs all over it. I noticed that tends to be where they stick it but it's at the very top or it's at eye level. Hello stores, let's put this in clear view. Bruce Friedrich 54:43 That's super nice. You had also asked about it. Yeah, definitely the power of one person to make a positive difference and obviously, you know that that makes those products available for all shoppers at that grocery store which is just so great. There's one book that people might really quite enjoy, Clean Meat by Paul Shapiro, with a foreword from Yuval Harari, the author of Sapiens. It's really a fun, interesting look at especially the early days of the move toward cultivated meat. And folks can find that at cleanmeat.com online. Carley Hauck 55:23 Great. Bruce, thank you so much. Thank you for leading and showing up every day the way that you do. I know that you have got a huge mission. And you're just serving in such an incredible way again, so delighted to have this conversation. Thank you. Bruce Friedrich 55:40 Right back at you, Carley, thank you so much for focusing so much attention in this space. And thanks for your podcast and everything you're doing to make a more just food system really honored honor to spend this time with you, Carley Hauck 55:52 Bruce, this was worth the wait. I'm so glad that we were able to have you as the first guest in 2022. It was meant to be thank you for your light, your service, your leadership, and I am deeply grateful for you. If you want to get in touch with Bruce or the Good Food Institute, the links are in the show notes. Please check out the incredible resources available there. The SHINE podcast has been self sponsored since May 2019. It is freely offered from my heartfelt desire to be in service in support of a workplace in a world that works for everyone and is living in greater harmony with the Earth, from conscious inclusive leadership and socially responsible business practice. I would love and appreciate your support. To continue to ignite calls to action and interview wonderful leaders like Bruce and bring science and tips. Please feel free, if you feel motivated to support me by going to my Patreon page, which is patreon.com/carleyhauck. The link is in the show notes. Your generosity helps so much. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together. If you want to be alerted as to the next SHINE podcast, please go over to your favorite podcast carrier and hit the subscribe button or you can also sign up for my free newsletter at leadfromlight.com and you will be alerted to new offerings, podcasts and resources. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like me to address in the podcast please email me at support at carleyhauck.com. Thank you for tuning in. We have so many wonderful interviews for season six. Until we meet again be the light and shine the light.

53. How to Most Effectively Upskill in 2022 with Carley Hauck

The Pursuit of Self-Actualization

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2022 42:09

What kinds of leadership qualities and new behaviors do you want to activate and/or upskill, this year? Welcome to the first episode of season six of the SHINE podcast. This season is going to focus on topics related to optimizing how we live, work, and play with science, tips, and also ideas on how we can start to design a workplace culture and world that is being mindful of our consumption, our energy leaks, and optimizing for well being of ourselves, our co workers, our communities, and the planet. To start the season off, I will be speaking about the important topic of How to most effectively upskill in 2022. This podcast interview is full of great science and action steps that you can take around four areas. 1) What is the science of habits? 2) How can we actually make new patterns and habits more effectively, and let go of the ones that are self destructive? 3) A program that you can apply in your life to help you to shift habits and create new healthy ones. 4) I will share with you the new habits program that I'm currently doing, how I'm shifting, and what I'm learning. Finally I will also give you an opportunity to identify how you want to optimize in 2022. This one will bring you back to the essential foundations of optimizing our well being so we can bring our best selves to work and life. Thank you for joining me as we explore the skills that will support trust, empathy, and collaboration as we move into this new year. SHINE Links: Book Carley for Speaking — https://carleyhauck.com/speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development — https://carleyhauck.com/learning-and-development Executive Coaching with Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/executive-coaching Contact Carley — https://carleyhauck.com/contact Mindful Magazine Top Books to Read in 2022 — https://www.mindful.org/14-books-and-podcasts-to-embrace-the-new-year/ Well Being Resources: Carley's Book — https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Inner Game Meditations — https://carleyhauck.com/meditations Doterra — https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/carleyhauck 4 Sigmatic — 15% Discount code Shine — https://us.foursigmatic.com/?rfsn=4405553.d15cc7&discount=SHINE Social: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ IG — https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Website — https://www.carleyhauck.com Newsletter — https://www.leadfromlight.com Website Page — https://carleyhauck.com/podcast Carley's Patreon Page — https://www.patreon.com/carleyhauck The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck and I am your host. This is season six of the podcast. We are at the very beginning of 2022. And I can feel this is going to be a year full of complexity, but the shifts, and the changes are happening and they're moving in the right direction. And I feel optimistic and inspired at what we can build together. And that's really why this podcast came about over two years ago. It is on the intersection of the application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. And when I say the word leader, that doesn't mean that you have to be given a leadership title. We all, in my opinion, need to be leaders. Now, the way that we lead ourselves, the way that we lead our families, our communities, or workplaces. It's time to create a world that works for everyone, and is living in greater harmony with the planet. And so those of you that are joining for the first time, welcome. Each season has a different focus. And this season is going to focus on topics and interviews related to optimizing how we live, work and play. As always, I'll bring in a lot of science because I'm a nerd, there will be really applicable tips. And you're going to get a chance to listen to some incredible thought leaders, game changers, business leaders, spiritual teachers, on how we can design a workplace culture and world that is being mindful of our consumption, our energy leaks, and optimizing for the well being of ourselves, our co-workers, our communities, and the planet. Because guess what, y'all, it's all connected. So to start the season off, I am going to be the interview for our first topic. I would like to share about how to effectively upskill in 2022. One of the things that I was saying a lot in 2021, near the end of the year to colleagues, friends, family, to my coach was, ‘I am upskilling this' or ‘I'm upskilling that'. And I've learned that by saying things aloud or repeating them silently in my mind, over and over, I actually start to create a neural pattern and habit, new circuits in my mind that are going to activate me actually doing that behavior. So based on my research background in neuroscience, and being a longtime meditator, I've been meditating since I was 19 years old, I understand, personally and professionally, how much control our thought processes and our narratives have on our behaviors, and thus our habits. So I'm going to break down what a habit what upskilling is. But before I get there, I want to just share one more piece. The truth is that I was getting ready to upskill. But I wasn't quite there yet. And there is a well researched and documented framework about the continuum of change. It's called the transtheoretical stages of change model and it was developed by Dr. James Prochaska, a professor of psychology, who specialized in the study of the dynamics of change, and he found five stages of successful behavior. Number one, pre contemplation. So what that means is like it's really not even your conscious awareness. It's way back in the unconscious of your wanting to make a change or shift a pattern of some sort. Number two contemplation, okay, now it's conscious, you're starting to think about it, oh, maybe I should, you know, eat more vegetables, or maybe I should not get so triggered around my mother in law, whatever it is. Number three, you're in preparation. So that's actually where I was. I was in the preparation mode. I was talking about it. I was researching the behaviors, the patterns I wanted to change, but I was about a month away. Maybe a little more from actually going into stage four which is action. You're doing it, you're doing it, you know, daily, regularly got a groove going. And ultimately, if you keep doing that action again and again and again, and I'm going to talk about how long it actually takes to create a habit, then you eventually come into maintenance where it's automatic, you don't really even have to think about it. It's part of what you do, right. Carley Hauck 5:30 So I was in preparation mode. And the reason that I know this is because now I'm in action mode. I wasn't ready to carve out the time to make the changes necessary. And so preparation mode can last a month, two months. And it's often a time when you're talking about what you want to change, you're may be getting research, you're taking in the perspectives of other people. And so in my personal and professional experience, you need to not only have the right mindset, the motivation intrinsically, but also to create enough space internally. And what I mean by internally is, like, you know, do I actually have enough space to take something else on? Or is my mind, is my attention, you know, too distracted? And then externally, have I made enough space in my life to support the new pattern, the new habits that I want to actually have last? So at the beginning of a new year, like we are right now, there's often more motivation. One, there's queues and their signs everywhere, right? Happy New Year. What are you doing for the new year? What new habits are you going to be engaging in. And it's not like it's a whole new year. I mean, it is with numbers. But it's more that it's giving us a chance to start over to begin again, to start fresh. And there is a sense of inspiration in that, you know, anything's possible in a new year. But I'd also love to encourage us that we can actually start over in any moment, any moment that we were impatient, or that we ate the wrong food. And then we recognize we have awareness that we did that. We don't have to be really hard on ourselves. But we can say, oops, alright, starting over right now. And I feel like that's a more gentle way of approaching new behaviors and patterns. In this solo podcast, I will share some best practices, and tips on habits and upskilling for 2022. This is coming from my years of research on the subject, from supporting individuals, teams and organizations in my role as a leadership and organizational development consultant, as an executive coach, and from my many years of teaching on behavior change at Stanford, and with UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, this podcast interview is full of great science and actions that you can take around four areas. What is the science of habits? How can we actually make new patterns and habits more effectively, and let go of the ones that are self destructive? I'm going to share a program that you can apply in your life to help you to shift habits, create new ones, I'm going to share with you the program that I'm currently doing and how I'm shifting and what I'm learning. And then I'm also going to give you an opportunity to identify how you want to optimize? What kinds of leadership qualities and new behaviors do you want to really ignite this year? And when I think about the essential leadership qualities for this new world that we're designing, we're creating, what comes to me is trust, empathy, and collaboration. Those are really important ones. And I'm going to share with you how you can develop those too. Alright, you ready? Here we go. Carley Hauck 9:45 So number one, the science. So what is a habit? A habit is a repeated thought, behavior or pattern. We may be conscious of or we may be unconscious of neuroplasticity is the brain's amazing capacity to change and adapt. In other words, our brain is malleable. It underlies forming new pathways under which some new habits are likely to occur and others are less likely to occur. It refers to the physiological changes in the brain that happen as a result of our interactions with our environment. So, there may be a habit that you're pretty unconscious of that you keep doing over and over again, which is triggered by some situation in your environment. And what's so interesting is that from the time the brain begins to develop in utero, until the day that we die, the connections among the cells in our brains reorganize in response to our changing needs. We're constantly adapting, as we've seen, in this very interesting, almost two years since we've been in this worldwide kerfuffle, I'd like to call it, pandemic, we are adapting quickly. This is a result of neuroplasticity in the brain. This is a dynamic process that allows us to learn from and adapt to different experiences. So how long does it take to create a habit? Well, a lot of literature and programs out there say 21 days, but that's actually not exactly true. There's a lot of variability. It might take one person 18 days, and it might take another person 200 days, and it really depends on the resistance, that you may have the situation that's happening, your proclivity to certain weaknesses, strengths, you know, some things are easier for us to create habits around other things are more challenging. Do you remember when I shared I was in preparation mode for upskilling? Yeah, I wasn't ready to really create the time. Because 2021 was a huge year in my life. It was launching my very first book. And in a pandemic, which brings a whole other set of challenges, fatigue and complexities to an already arduous task of launching a book. So at the beginning of 2021, it was all hands on deck around my book. And after eight months, of launching, of speaking, of podcast, interviews, of social media, of so many things, I felt emotionally and physically exhausted. And I was undergoing too much limbic friction, which is the energy needed to engage in a new habit to actually really start something new. Limbic friction is also a part of the emotional brain, the emotional brain tends to be in the limbic system that senses the resistance, anxiety, lack of motivation, or fatigue related to building any habit. There requires a varying degree of activation energy to overcome limbic friction and build a habit. And I just didn't have it, understandably so. So now that I have recovered some, I am more able and ready for upskilling. And we all have varying levels of limbic friction about certain tasks, and not around others. So for example, I've been practicing yoga and meditation for over 20 years. It is one of the very first things I do when I wake up in the morning. I look forward to it. And I don't have any limbic friction. It's automatic. But upskilling a new technical skill, for example, that has some limbic friction. So as you're listening to me, what behaviors do you notice in your life? Maybe just pick one or two that has more limbic friction, or less. So I've been using the word upskilling. A lot. It's become pretty trendy in the last several months. But what it means is that we're constantly learning more things inside our industry, or even outside of it. It can pertain to engaging and learning and development courses at work, listening to wonderful podcasts like this one, reading a new book, taking a course that offers a certification, or could even be conducting informational interviews. So, number two, let's talk about a program that you can engage in that will support you to be more effective at upskilling and habit formation in 2022. In order to be successful with any new patterns or behaviors, you want to make sure that you're working and learning within the natural rhythms of your brain and body hormones, that will make it more likely that you will be able to engage and thus sustain these new patterns and habits. So what do I mean by that? Science has found that in the first zero to eight hours after waking your brain and body are more action and focus oriented, that means that you can more easily overcome things with high limbic friction. So since most of us are going to bed, usually around 10, maybe plus or minus an hour or two, and waking up around 7am plus or minus an hour or two, you can imagine that the first eight hours are going to be the morning till late afternoon, when you're going to be most effective at new behaviors, tasks, anything that's going to take more energy concentration in the nine to 15 hours after waking. Later afternoons, maybe it's four or five, your serotonin becomes higher. And it's important for you to keep stress levels lower. And to engage in habits that don't require a lot of limbic overrides, because you're just not going to have as much energy. In other words, you want to have more behaviors that require more energy attention focus earlier and the first eight hours of your day. And then less of those as the day progresses. Carley Hauck 17:26 A test of whether you've truly formed a habit is when you can perform that habit or behavior at any point in the day without thinking about it too much. So you know, maybe your goal is to exercise in the morning. But if it's really a habit, then you find a way to exercise wherever you can put it in, right, you're waiting for your daughter, your partner, your friend, and you find you have 30 minutes and you keep an extra pair of shoes in your car and you go for a walk. The goal of any habit is automaticity circuits perform automatically without you thinking about it. So another thing that's been helpful, and has been found in the scientific literature around habits is that visualization helps to develop habits. If you can hold in your mind a sequence of things that need to happen for an outcome to occur, like following a recipe. This will help you to engage in that new behavior or habit, you want to visualize the series of steps needed. And really think about each step it takes. A really wonderful tip is to visualize the series of steps needed to adopt a specific habit, or maybe even to push through something where you have some limbic resistance. So for example, this morning, I engaged in my spiritual practice, like I do in the morning. And you'll hear more about what that entails as I talk to you about some of the habits that I'm forming later in this interview. But then I knew that I had some work that I needed to get done. And one of them being finishing the outline so that I could record this podcast. So I visualized the steps from okay, this is what I'm going to do, this is what I'm going to do next, and then this and then this and then this and then I was able to just move right into performing the task. The science showcases that a part of the brain called the basal ganglia, which is involved in the action or the doing and inaction is the not doing of certain things that actually gets activated when we put tasks with other tasks. It's also kind of called a task bracketing. So it actually sets a neural imprint in your brain that a certain thing has to take place. And then another thing takes place. Circuits in our brain are devoted to framing events just before and just after the habit. Another way to support effective habit formation is to reward yourself after you have completed that habit. You may identify the reward of ‘I will do this after the task is completed', right? This is commonly referred to in the scientific literature as a reward prediction error. For example, if you expect a reward and that reward comes, a particular behavior associated with generating that reward is more likely to occur again. So, if I tell myself that I'm going to eat a nourishing delicious lunch and 30 more minutes, once I've completed the podcast outline, and I think the reward is coming, then dopamine release starts in anticipation of this reward. And that's going to increase the likelihood that I'm going to finish this task. What's also been really interesting to find in the science is that the dopamine in our brains has been found to be even higher, if we don't actually know that the reward is coming. But to initially reinforce these new behaviors to these tasks where there might be more limbic friction, it's really important that you tell yourself the rewards you're going to get once you finish it. So let's try this on. Identify a new habit or skill associated with some learning that you want to prioritize in 2022. And I'm gonna break it down into three categories. It could be well-being, so this would pertain to your health, you know, I want to get more sleep, I want to exercise more I want to try on this new form of exercise, I want to prioritize meditation, I would like to be eating, more fruits and vegetables, less meat, I want to engage in more play. I just feel like I'm just going through the motions every day, there's no play, there's no joy, right? So that that could be the well-being bracket. You could also be wanting to fine tune and optimize for relationships. And this could pertain to work or home and they tend to overlap. So what qualities or skills do you want to learn and develop, that might support you and your relationships at work or home? Greater self awareness, self regulation, emotional intelligence, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, right? And work. The third bracket. What habits or qualities do you want to learn, develop pertaining to the context of work. Is it technical skills, people skills or both? Less is more. Carley Hauck 22:59 So for this exercise, just pick one category one, pattern, one habit. And the truth is, is that we bring our whole selves to everything that we do. So if you increase one part of your well-being, guess what? That's going to improve your relationships and how you show up, lead and perform at work. And it's also going to support you and your home life. So close your eyes. Don't do this while you're driving. And bring your awareness in sight. Pick one habit that you would like to commit to for the next month. Again, a new habit/new pattern can take anywhere from 18 to 200 days depending on the person, the situation, how much limbic friction. So just pick one. Pick one thing that you know is going to really support you to bring and be your best this year. And then, allow yourself to notice how much time will it take for you to perform this habit? When will you do it? What will you do before you do this habit? What do you need to reward yourself to make sure that you can keep up this habit? Even if there's resistance, even if there are obstacles in the way, what's your reward? What are maybe a few rewards just take your time Imagine yourself being successful at this new behavior for the next 30 days. Imagine how it's going to make your life better. Yes. Now open your eyes, and take a minute, write it down, put it on your tablet. Just kind of writing down what I just prompted you with? What's the new pattern in the habit? When are you going to do it? How long is it going to take? What we do before, what will you do after, visualizing the series of steps? And then how will you reward yourself? And then after the podcast is over, go back to this habit that you're writing down right now and flesh it out more and start to really carve it out on your calendar. Share this with others, because we are social emotional beings. And it helps to say things out loud for accountability. Identify when you will start this new behavior and maybe even recognize where are you in the stages of change? Well, we just brought it into contemplation. So are you in preparation mode? Still got a month or two? Before you're going to start it? Are you ready to go? Are you motivated, I've got space, I've got time I'm ready to do this, been putting this off, here we go. So I shared with you that there are some new behaviors and a process that I'm using right now. And I would never ask you to take on something that I'm not doing myself. So this is what I'm doing. I started my new behaviors this week. So it's been about six days at this point. And I actually decided to do six tiny habits. Now you don't have to follow my lead. But I have a colleague at Stanford, who really focuses a lot on neurobiology, and he inspired me to try on this six tiny habits. So far, it's going well, I'll share more with you about how it's going. So I am practicing these in the first eight hours after I wake up so that I have a better likelihood of sticking with them, and having the motivation throughout the day. And many of these habits are related to my well-being bracket, but that is going to support me in all other areas of my life. So the first one is to wake up earlier. And my wakeup time is between 6:30 and 7:30. I notoriously have taught classes late at night and have worked a lot as an entrepreneur and have burned the midnight oil when I was working full time and writing the book at the same time. So I am really prioritizing more balance, healthy boundaries around how I work and play. And so getting up earlier is going to support me to do that. I have my spiritual practice that I do write after I wake up and what this looks like. It's a little bit of a process, but it feels really good. I'm loving it. And I've added a few more pieces to it in the last six days. So I get up, I usually try to put my head outside to get a little bit of natural light on my face. Even if I'm just standing outside for about a minute. That helps me wake up. And then I make tea, or a little bit of coffee. And I also make this cleansing drink that consists of lemon juice, ginger and tumeric and a little bit of pepper. And if I don't have the tumeric it's always lemon and ginger. And I just make it because I'm going to drink it later. And then I will usually go outside to do my spiritual practice. And now that I'm back in California, where it's not freezing cold, and the sunshine is out now all I have to do is bundle up, it's wonderful because now I get the benefits of having light on my face, which is really important actually, if we can get natural daylight within the first 30 minutes of waking up. I mean if you can and it's too cold or you live in Alaska. It's fine if you have artificial light, but you do want to have bright lights on, because it will help you wake up and really greet the day with a lot more energy. One other thing that I have on my six tiny habits is to do some vigorous cardio before 10am. And the next is that I want to focus on breaking my working segments into 15 minutes, where I do something, you know, wholeheartedly with all my focus and attention for 15 minutes, and then I take a small break, and then I go back to it. And I know that this is the most effective way to work. And I actually even write about it in my chapter one of my book, but I have to be honest with y'all, I wasn't practicing it very well. Again, Book Launch Mode is a whole other beast. I was doing okay, but I think I developed some scatterbrained habits where I was not being as efficient in my focus. And then the last is that I am finishing my last morsel of food before 8pm. And that is so that I can digest more easily, wind down and go to bed earlier. So those are what I have. And so how are my habits going, these six tiny habits? Carley Hauck 31:32 Well, I notice that there is really no limbic friction towards my spiritual practice. And the sequence of events for my spiritual practice normally takes about an hour and a half. And it, you know, again, those into making myself some tea or coffee. And then I go outside, I usually walk for 15 minutes outside in the sun and I am chanting the Gayatri Mantra. So, mantras help to really stabilize the mind, they help to balance out the chakras, they bring in really positive vibration and energy. And I've had lots of different mantras that I practiced for 40 days, 60 days at various times in my life. And right now I'm really loving the Gayatri Mantra. Ah, it's amazing. And then I'll spend about five to 10 minutes doing yoga. And then I meditate for 15 minutes. So if I have more time than I often will try to get in five to 10 minutes of more intense physical exercise. And that just helps me wake up. This could be like jogging, you know, high knees. Sometimes I'm jumping on my trampoline, jumping jacks. And again, this is all easier to do outside because it's not snowing, and it's warmer outside and the sun rises earlier in the West Coast than the East Coast. So the other thing that I'm noticing is that my eating hasn't always finished before 8pm. And that really depends on different social activities are just not planned well. But it has been earlier overall. So I am really pleased with this. So I have three more weeks, and I am optimistic, it's gonna result in some great new patterns for 2022. So again, this is focusing more on the well being bracket. And for those of you that know about Maslow's hierarchy of needs, he says, and his framework is really that the physical needs have to be met first before we can kind of move into our needs for belonging, and self actualization and all those things. So I know that if I optimize my wellbeing patterns, at the beginning of the day, and throughout the day, it's going to support me to really stay focused, responsive, and balanced for any curveballs or reactivity that I may encounter throughout the day. And the last tip that I want to share with you about habits is how do we break a negative habit? Well, to break a negative habit, first, you want to become conscious of the fact that you just participated in that negative habit, whatever it is, and if the moment that you have awareness that you just did that thing, said that thing, whatever it is slept through your alarm, you want to engage in a positive replacement behavior immediately after. So you know, if I ate the chocolate at 10pm, for example, and I wanted to stop eating at eight, then I do something else, you know, healthy for myself, right? It could actually just be self compassion, right? Oh, I want to be so hard on myself. It's probably ate the chocolate because I was tired or something. Or I was trying to stay awake to do work, when I should have been going to sleep. So that's sometimes what can happen. So you want to again, have awareness, have compassion, and then put in some positive replacement behavior immediately after. Carley Hauck 35:20 Before we go, I wanted to share a little bit more on the important leadership competencies that I feel are really necessary in our world right now, and I spoke to those at the beginning of the interview. And those are comprised of trust, empathy, and collaboration. I speak a lot about how to grow these inner game qualities in my new book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. So the inner game rules the outer game, which means that whatever qualities or skills we are cultivating on the inside, will support us on the outside. And the inner game qualities of self awareness, emotional intelligence, growth mindset pertains to resilience, well being, love, authenticity, I have seen over and over and over again, and leaders and 1000s of folks that I have trained in this methodology that it does enhance trust, empathy, and collaboration. So if you want to learn more about how you can grow those qualities in your leadership in 2022, I would love to share Shine, my new book with you. And Shine was also recommended by Mindful Magazine as one of the top books to read in 2022. I am delighted, and so honored by this acknowledgement, and I'll send you the article in the show notes, you can read all about it. Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World is available in audio and hard copy. And I'll leave a link in the show notes where you can find it at your local bookstore or Amazon. If you're wanting a deeper dive into how to build more trust, empathy and collaboration, your workforce, I give keynote presentations, I bring larger scale trainings to teams. And also always excited to support companies so that there's this continuous culture of learning and conscious inclusive leadership, you can feel free to reach out to me to book a free call. And we can assess where your current needs are and how we get you to the future vision that you're wanting to see. I would love to work with you. And a link of how to get in contact with me will be in the show notes. Because it's always important to optimize and prioritize our well-being, I'd like to leave you with some fabulous well being resources that I myself use and I have recommended to many, this is going to help start off your year, you can go to the Resources page on my website link will be in the show notes. And you'll see that there are 15 free meditations based on these inner game skills. Actually, I was just playing the forgiveness track to one of my guy friends here in San Diego, and he loved it. So it sounds like he's gonna start really creating more self forgiveness time in his life. You can also see some other products for example, doTERRA is a wonderful company based in Utah that focuses on essential oils and there is a product called OnGuard that I've been using for years and I share it with everybody because it is one of the things that has really supported me to keep my immune system strong. And I never leave home without it. If you go to the doTERRA part of my website, you'll get 15% off of any of their products. You can also check out Four Sigmatic, a company that I love. And they have incredible plant based products from functional mushrooms that support energy immunity, focus and rest. And I drink their adaptogen coffee, I love their Rishi and quadriceps hot cocoa and they have all these fabulous products that have really supported my well being and I think they'll support yours. You'll also get a discount if you put in the code SHINE and you'll see that on the resources page. Carley Hauck 39:49 So to sum up this episode, I addressed four important areas regarding effective habit formation upskilling the science on habits, how you can really make maximize for effective and sustaining habits, a program you can implement to shift your habits, I shared with you some of what I'm doing and the habits that I am creating time shifting. And then I also talked about some skills you might want to build in this new year as part of your new leadership competencies to support trust, empathy, and collaboration. And again, if you want to be successful with new habits, it's really important that you visualize it, you write out the sequence of events, and that you make sure that you assign a reward to support and reinforce that new behavior. The Shine podcast has been self sponsored since May 2019. It is freely offered from my heartfelt desire to offer tips, tools, science, in service of a workplace in a world that works for everyone and is living in greater harmony with the Earth from conscious inclusive leadership and socially responsible business practices. I would love and appreciate your support so that I can continue to offer this with the gusto and heart that I have. You can donate and support me by going to my Patreon page www.patreon.com/carleyhauck, the link is in the show notes. Your generosity helps so much. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like me to address on the podcast in the future please email me at support@carleyhauck.com. Thank you for tuning in and being part of this wonderful community. Until we meet again, be the light and shine the light. I have such great guests for season six. I cannot wait to share them with you. Thanks again and we will talk very soon.

How to Shine with Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2022 55:11

Carley is an acclaimed author, organizational and leadership development consultant, Stanford Instructor, and sought-after speaker who teaches people, leaders, and teams to lead consciously from the inside out and develop a workplace and world prioritizes people and planet first. She partners with some of the top organizations in the world supporting psychological safety/high performance in teams, inclusive leadership, and flourishing cultures where everyone feels they belong. Tune in to find out more about the importance of self-love, how to find your purpose, and how to be a better global citizen. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tpsa/message

shine carley hauck

Purposeful Leadership with Leticia Van Splunteren

Back2Basics: Reconnecting to the essence of YOU

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2021 50:16

Welcome to the final episode of the SHINE podcast for 2021. This podcast always focuses on the science, spiritual perspective and application of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. In this last episode of 2021 we are going out with fireworks. Our topic for today is purposeful leadership with my friend and colleague Leticia Van Splunteren. In this interview Leticia speaks vulnerably about how she navigated 2020 & 2021 as a CEO and mother, how she took on the priority of motherhood and well being first so that she could bring a strong, passionate and purpose to her leadership and life. She also shares some of the important mindsets and inner game tools she relies on to be a conscious inclusive leader at work and in the world. Lastly, there is a very special invitation that Leticia has for you. This interview has many valuable tips for you to bring your best and whole self to your life. Thank you for listening. SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Book Carley for speaking Sign up for the Podcast! Carley on LinkedIn BACK2BASICS Experience Leticia Latino Leticia on LinkedIn The Imperfect Shownotes 0:01 Carley Hauck Hi, welcome to the SHINE podcast. My name is Carley Hauck and I am your host. This podcast focuses on the science, spiritual perspective and application of conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I facilitate two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our topic today, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any future episodes as we move into 2022 and if you love this episode, or any of our previous SHINE episodes, please write a positive review and share with folks. It helps so much. Thank you. This is the last episode of the season, season five, the last episode of 2021 and we are going out with a big light fireworks. Our topic for today is purposeful leadership, with my friend and colleague Leticia Van Splunteren. In this interview Leticia speaks vulnerably with me about how she navigated 2020 as a CEO and mother, how she took on the priority of motherhood and well being first so that she could bring a strong, passionate and purpose to her leadership and life. She also shares some of the important mindsets and inner game tools she relies on to be a conscious inclusive leader at work and in the world. Lastly, there is a very special invitation that Leticia has for you. So you want to definitely listen to the end of the episode. Leticia is the CEO of Neptuno, USA. Neptuno is a worldwide telecommunications infrastructure with several patented tower designs of applied three dimensional technology to site surveys and tower mapping. This is a family owned business. And in the midst of the pandemic, so many small businesses had to close their doors, but this particular business was able to stay afloat and you're gonna want to learn how they did that. The company has created telecom assets, virtual libraries, has helped develop telecom management software and is taking an active role in the Smart Cities movement. Leticia is an author, a mom, a sister, a wife, a CEO, a podcaster. I have been so grateful to meet this amazing human, and I can't wait to share her story of conscious inclusive leadership with you. 3:13 Carley Hauck Hello, Leticia. I am so excited to have you on the SHINE podcast today. Thank you for joining. 3:21 Leticia Van Splunteren Thank you, Carley . Thanks so much for having me. 3:23 Carley Hauck You're so welcome. Well, I wanted to start off with the question. What does conscious and inclusive leadership and business mean to you? 3:38 Leticia Van Splunteren That's a rich question. There's so much there. But you know, the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, conscious business. For me, being conscious means being present, being in the moment of what I do, but also doing what's best for the greater good and doing things and engaging in things and in business that, you know, has a positive impact in the world. And, you know, being given everybody the same opportunities, not even noticing who is doing what, that to me is being inclusive. 4:16 Carley Hauck Mm hmm. Wonderful answer and why is that important to you as a leader as a CEO yourself? 4:24 Leticia Van Splunteren Well, you know, I currently work for the family business. I worked in it for 20 years now. So I think that when you work in the family business, it gives you a consciousness level that maybe harder to achieve when you work for a big corporation because the soul of the company, it's almost like the soul of your family. And that's how I see our company. So, you know, treating everybody with humanity, being compassionate, being generous in your work and in your company. That's, you know, to me, it's part of what we call consciousness because this creates ripple effects. And that's why it's important to me. 5:07 Carley Hauck Right back care, the soul of the family. Yeah, I like some of the terms that you just used. And being that we've been in this pandemic, you know, world where so many of us are still working from home. Worldwide, it's been over a year and a half now, what have been some of the bigger challenges for you, as a leader, as the CEO of this company? Love to hear. 5:40 Leticia Van Splunteren Yeah, well, it definitely has been challenging. I joked around with my friends. And they know, I'm not someone that overwhelms easily. But I remember at the very beginning of the pandemic, I was very, very overwhelmed. And mostly, I have still young kids, 11, and seven. And so to have to manage, you know, the company and the impact you will have in the company, and we're in the telecommunications industry. So that's something that I think by now, we can all agree if we hadn't had the infrastructure and the networks, and I'm not going to get very technical, but everybody can relate. If we couldn't have that Zoom session open for our kids and for work, we would have lived through a very different pandemic. So the telecommunications workforce was deemed essential for the very first time in March last year, which I consider we've always been an essential workforce. But this really made the point. And that means also that in terms of our companies, companies providing telecommunications in general, you know, we were under a lot of stress to deliver, you know, the services and infrastructure that can keep the world connected. And so that poses a lot of challenges. And then, of course, making sure that your employees understood, at least our employees understood that to us safety was first and we weren't going to get anybody in harm's way. And so we have a lot of international traveling for our crews that do work abroad. So of course, we had projects that stopped people not being able to travel. So it was hard. But I think just going, as I say back to basics, and making sure that everybody knew that the basics to us was being healthy, keeping everybody safe, and doing whatever we could do with the resources and situation we were given. So I was trying to do that both at work, and in my personal life. And but yeah, it was very challenging. 7:48 Carley Hauck And so, you know, it sounds like what was most difficult was just the feelings of overwhelm, and not potentially knowing how to navigate this very uncertain, complex, ambiguous time. And was there anything more specifically that like, maybe you could even point to that has been more challenging for you to navigate in 2021. 8:17 Leticia Van Splunteren During this year, well, in 2020, just in case I wasn't specific enough, mostly was put in also the kids in front, everything else, because you understood that once they couldn't go back to school, they were at the biggest, you know, we had the biggest uncertainty there and they had to adapt. I had a six year old at the time that had to learn to use the Zoom, and the computer and they had sessions, and you had to be on top of that. Otherwise, you couldn't get them through the school day. Although that was very challenging. And as a CEO, of course, I was staying late and doing everything I could for the company as well. But I had to consciously say, the most important role right now that I have is as a mom. I really felt that and I felt of course communicating with the teams and the company, you know, but the human aspect definitely was the biggest one in 2021. Because we transitioned, you know, the school, the kids slowly returned to school, we got into different patterns and rhythm and pace. I could focus more on the company again, and then started moving because we have as you know, you know, a few months there that compared to our normal pace, it was extremely slow. So you could really kind of pick and choose where you were going to put the attention because we were on emergency mode and this year has been more about okay, now you have different components of how your business did and of course not many businesses achieved their goals or executed their business plans as designed. So it's been a lot of pivoting and just being creative into how to tackle post pandemic world scenario. 10:04 Carley Hauck Thank you. So what I heard was that in 2020, you know, being a mom was the first priority for you. And as a woman leader, you probably know that in 2020, we had such a huge number, almost 3 million women that had to leave the workforce. Many that were in leadership positions like yourself, because they couldn't navigate work at home, because of the experience, you were just sharing of really needing to make the family and the children that priority. And we need to have women at the top to really create more equity and to make sure that all voices are being heard, and very important decisions for our workplace in our world. And so what allowed you to really be able to straddle both of those in the midst of 2020, that you were able to continue to lead in the way that you were, but you were also able to prioritize motherhood and your children? 11:14 Leticia Van Splunteren Well, that's an excellent question. And it's kind of a sad answer that I'm going to give. But the truth is, that's where owning your own business makes a difference, you're not going to get fired by doing what you feel is right, the company's gonna take a hit for sure, because you are not, you know, going at the same pace. But at the same time, I think leaders and managers, sometimes they hold very unrealistic expectations. So I think last year, a lot of leaders that thought the business was going to grow substantially unless you sold, you know, hand sanitizer, or anything that is related to COVID is extremely hard. So there's two options, you can either keep working extremely hard and almost inefficiently, because expecting a certain type of result is almost very unrealistic. Or you say, Yes, we're going to take a hit. This is what I can expect out of this situation, but I'm going to put my attention into, you know, what I think deserves it more. So when you own your own company, you get the benefit to make those decisions. If you work for the same corporate American, you have a boss or a type of leadership that doesn't understand that. That's very difficult to do. And that's unfortunately, why we lost so much ground. And I say we because I'm a big diversity and inclusion advocate. That, you know, it is very sad to see that when it boils down and you have to choose between family and work, I think it is just, you know, human nature, especially for the mother that eats you know, the nurturer eats. You know, this is no secret when one of the two in a couple has to take and make a sacrifice on behalf of the kids. I would say there's extraordinary men out there, but it's usually the woman that's gonna make the sacrifice. 13:08 Carley Hauck Nope, Agreed. Agreed. Thank you. So, in 2021, I heard you say that it's, it's been a little easier to navigate, because you're not in emergency mode. And yet, I know that there are likely qualities and skills that you possess on the inside what we often refer to as the inner game skills on this podcast, since that's been a big part of the book that I wrote and came out this year SHINE and also is a larger part of the body of work that I've been bringing to leaders and companies. But the inner game really directs our outer game. And so what were some of the internal resources, quality skills that supported you to be the kind of leader mom and person you want to be in these times? 14:05 Leticia Van Splunteren That's a great question. And I'll take a moment to say I've read your book. And I think it's fantastic. You did a great, great job there. There's so many important points that I enjoyed and resonated with me in your book. 14:25 Carley Hauck Thank you. 14:27 Leticia Van Splunteren Yeah. And so one of the things and I know you're a meditator, I have to say in terms of inner game, I think the ingredients have been there in me, I've been on a personal growth path for quite so many years now. And I'm an avid reader, I'm always reading a book and it's usually about self development. But meditation is something I had been, you know, romancing with for a long time. And I have to say, I owe it to the pandemic that provided me with a more, let's say, a predictable schedule because I travel a lot for work. And so by being home all the time I could really fit it in, and it was my lifeline to find a, you know, 15 minutes to meditate. And it really helped me put my mind at peace, trust in the situation because as, as we say, it's very, very scary to go through what we went through all of us went through last year not knowing, you know, what's gonna happen and what the, you know, the well being of our families, etc. So I guess I use meditation a lot to kind of channel all the things that were important to me and get to that realization of, you know, we're gonna be okay, we have food, we are at home, we are lucky to be together. And so just keeping the focus into what's important was very key to me. And everything else, you know, the company, the projects that are not happening, the money you're not making, you know, that's the outer game, as you say, in your book, that sold things you can, you know, live without, but the most basic needs were being covered. So I tried to focus on those. And we were in a lucky position that both my husband and I were, you know, able to work from home. And, you know, I have a lot of sympathy for those people whose job depends on being out and about. And, you know, we paid our nanny for the entire time that the pandemic happened without her having to come because they say, you know, we still have a job, it's not like we lost our jobs. So to take away that income from her because she's not coming to work. And she's not guilty that she cannot come to work, I just didn't feel good with that. And so it was hard, because no one likes to pay money, when you're not receiving the service, I was cooking, cleaning, I was having all the extra work, but just, you know, doing with what makes you feel good in your heart that I think is the key to the to my own inner game, if there's something that, you know, if I do it, and it creates those bad butterflies, what I call in my heart in my stomach, then I know I'm not aligned with my inner game. 17:08 Carley Hauck Hmm, wonderful answer, I loved hearing that. So really cultivating more self awareness and presence through your meditation practice, that sounds like there was a deeper motivation to do during this time, but also, because you didn't have to get on a plane and travel as much. So there was more regularity in your schedule, to be able to really say this is important. And that enabled you to stay in the moment to stay in gratitude. And to be able to pivot and shift as things always are changing, but in this time, maybe changing more quickly than what we're accustomed to. And then I also heard that what also came through was the inner game of love. So really cultivating, you know, being loving and caring towards yourself, which then extends outward to everyone that you engage with, and unique and Leticia you and I've only known each other for a little while, but your care and your warmth, and your heart really comes through. And I felt that immediately when we connected. And I said she's got an inner game of love going on here. 18:28 Leticia Van Splunteren Thank you Carley, I'm happy to hear that. Because you know, it's that and I and I cannot take credit because it's not something I purposely do. But I think yes, that if you nurture yourself it is very hard to do, because you almost feel a little bit selfish, and a little bit guilty of should I be doing something else, something more productive, you know, productive in the way that the world measures it. And when you work in your inner game, it's almost like you don't measure it until you hear a nice comment, like the one you just gave me that if that if that, you know, shines through, then I say okay, then I invested in something that now it's been measured somehow she feels a lot. I feel good about it. But you know, in most cases, you don't get measured on that. And that's the hard part. 19:17 Carley Hauck Well, and I think that's what's also shifting in corporate culture, and we can talk you know more about this, but the real skills, which in some terms have been called the soft skills, but are really the ways that we lead and collaborate and find, you know, effective communication to innovate to find resolution. Those are not technical skills, you can't necessarily measure them, you know, and, and they do directly lead to business outcomes and organizational goals. And because business is all about relationships, if you don't have that strong inner game, you're not smart. fording a more human centered workforce that is going to be able to really navigate difficult times, like what we're going through. And so, I mean, I am personally and professionally, maybe a little biased, but I've just seen it again. And again, those are the skills that really matter at the end of the day. And but I hear you that, historically, it's been about what we're doing versus how we're being. 20:31 Leticia Van Splunteren Yeah, absolutely, couldn't agree more. 20:35 Carley Hauck Mm hmm. Well, talking about another inner game skill that is often spoken to in the podcast and with many leaders, is the inner game of authenticity. So when we are really cultivating what matters to us, what's really true, and then we're able to bring that out into our actions into our words, I know that authenticity is a big value of yours. And it's something also that I've noticed about you right from our first conversation. So how do you step in the arena first, so to speak, you know, get vulnerable, be more authentic? And how does that support you to lead your team and especially in the midst of healthy or healthy conflict, but some people might just say, conflict, but, but I believe that conflict can be healthy. So that was kind of a big question. But how would you answer that? 21:35 Leticia Van Splunteren Well, I think that, for whatever reason, being authentic is always a little bit misunderstood. You know, especially if you're a woman, it's especially felt like weakness, but also for men, I think when they're authentic, they're perceived as a little bit soft. So I think that's something that needs to change. And that's a shift that I'm hoping that it's also starting to happen. But my approach has always been, you know, being authentic, I don't know if it's 17 years of all girls Catholic school there, add something to the women, but, but just, you know, I was also raised with that, you know, just be upfront, and show who you are. And what I've learned is when you are authentic, and also vulnerable. So when you say how it is, people get surprised, because they are not expecting you to say listen, you know, business is not good. I need help. And then you get a very different response that when you put, you know, a strong, you know, facade, saying, oh, everything's good, we're doing this, and we're doing that. And yeah, you can, you can have that and do it. But then you don't realize you're doing yourself a disservice. Because if you're having challenges, no one's gonna connect with your challenges and offer help. So I lead like that. So I show that vulnerability, I show my team that, you know, I also get issues, I also get problems. I don't expect others to do something that I don't do. For example, for example, you know, I know a lot of leaders and bosses, you know, a very particular kind of boss micromanager. He doesn't like it or she doesn't like it when she isn't here, so he has a doctor's appointment, or he has these and they had to leave the office. And I say, don't you have a doctor's appointment from time to time, and they give you a time in a day that it's in the middle of the day. And I think we don't put on each other's shoes often enough. And so I tried to lead from that perspective and be authentic also to myself, like, really, if that was me in that situation? Why would I expect, you know, from it. And so that has taken me down a good path, because I find that people are more authentic with me in return. And they open up about things and sometimes, you know, I say I get to hear things and stories that I know that are not shared, you know, with many people, and sometimes man, those around me are surprised by how they tell you that? Or why did they share that with you? And I say because I also share, you know what I'm going through and I was also open. And so I think that being authentic is really a great quality and, and you practice Be generous with your authenticity first, and you'll see that it's gonna return back somehow to you. 24:26 Carley Hauck I completely agree. And, you know, one of the other things that I've been learning about authenticity and speaking our truth is there's actually a couple distinctions. So authenticity is really just knowing the truth of who you are, what really matters and conveying that. And then there's transparency and transparency is just allowing people to really hear and see all the details. It's not leaving anything out. And then vulnerability is that personal quality that you're bringing in of- I need support right now, or, you know, just allowing your feelings to come through in the authenticity. And so for me having those three distinctions supports me to understand, is this a time to be vulnerable? Is this a time to be transparent? Is this a time to be authentic? Or is it time for all three? 25:23 Leticia Van Splunteren That's why you're the expert. I love that, you know, that this? That distinction is very powerful. Absolutely. And yeah, you know, those of us who are not like you have Masters on the subject. You know, you do it intuitively, you know, that, you know, in business, also, there's a time to be vulnerable, but there's also time to bluff a little bit. And learning to deal with that, I think it's important. And, you know, if we go back to healthy conflict, and in the team environment, I would have, to my answer that, you know, when I put when I've been transparent, I think that's where this distinction becomes important. When you let the person know, what you're going through in the decision, your decision making, trail of thought, and I something I've done many, many times is say, you know, if I have to say with someone, and I've had great relationships with all my team members throughout my career, and I say, Listen, on the personal level, I consider you a friend, if that has evolved into a friendship with with a colleague, I consider you a friend, and nothing will, I will say in this conversation will affect that, you know, will affect the fact that I consider you a dear friend, and we have a relationship outside the office, and I love to keep that intact. Now on the you know, professionally, there are certain expectations from the work we are doing. And you know, and then I will go into what maybe I'm not happy about or anything that will create that conflict that we're discussing, but I usually try to create a positive ground where the person feels safe, that the different interactions that we have are not going to be affected by this one conversation. 27:06 Carley Hauck Well, that's a really helpful example. And then there might even be a piece of vulnerability that you add in there, too, depending on the circumstance, depending on the situation. All right, well, let's talk about boundaries. You know, being that, again, you're navigating a lot, you're holding a lot from the role of mother to CEO, to wife, and then you also have this podcast. And you're also going to be offering up this incredible experience in Italy in April that we'll share a little bit more about. How are you able to put all of those in buckets, and have time for yourself? And for the things that matter? 27:57 Leticia Van Splunteren You know, Carley, I think that's a question I get asked the most all the time, but not only in podcasts, like by my friends is like how on earth? Are you doing all this? And it's funny, because, you know, I, I think I'm very realistic, one of the things is, in terms of what boundaries I set families first. And you know, I been a mother, I think it's the biggest job that anybody, I parent, any job that anybody can have, because you realize that you are raising someone else that that is going to be, you know, the is going to model basically, who you are and who you and your spouse or your partner are in terms of bringing this world to this child to the world, and how they show up in the world. So I consider that my biggest responsibility. And but, you know, I had a great example at home because my father and the company he founded 50 years ago. So I was always, you know, in an intrapreneurship environment, and my dad is a great father, and he's 87. And he still works every single day of his life. So he's still my boss. And, but he gave us the best example in terms of boundaries. And when he would come home from the office, you know, work talk was forbidden. And it was very little, you know, almost no workout. And he say, well, in those times it was easier because it was only me, but now, me, my two siblings, my sister in law, and my dad all work in the same company. So imagine our Christmas events or holidays are usually interesting. But you know, we are all very respectful of that. We all know that we work together and it's very easy to, you know, at a family event to talk about work. And we make a conscious effort and that's where the whole mindfulness and being present and, and you know, you know, be 100% where you are, if I'm in the office, I'm 100% here, if I'm at home, I'm 100% here. And, you know, I was always very good with my email, even over the weekend since I became a mom, people that interact with me, they know, you know, I'm trying not to check email on the weekend, because otherwise my mind cannot be with my family 100%. And so, you know, you establish the boundaries that you think are important to you. And so for me, families, number one, of course, the business is important, but I always tried to put those first and then I don't take on things I know I cannot fulfill. I'm super realistic with that, like, there's initiatives that I love. And I know I will get to at some point, my book was one of those that you know, I always wanted to write a book but I knew I didn't have the time and then the right opportunity came and it got done. And then I feel sometimes people are not realistic with their own time. And what they can tackle and setting up having a structure where you say, Okay, I'm going to delegate this delegate that and then you could really come fit so much more by delegating, but also by being honest with what you can tackle and what you cannot tackle. 31:25 Carley Hauck Fabulous. And so wonderful to hear about the family run business and the components of that, and the people involved, because so many small businesses had to, you know, close their doors in the midst of the pandemic. And then we have these big monopolies like Walmart, and Costco and Amazon, and, you know, that have just really taken on so much more power, because the small business just couldn't compete. And so I'm feeling really happy to hear that Neptuno has continued to really thrive. And I would also imagine that there's maybe a little bit more camaraderie in working with the family, you know, of saying, hey, this just came up personally, can you take this right? Where I wonder if that's a little bit easier in the context of a family business, versus a non-family business? 32:25 Leticia Van Splunteren Absolutely. And I think that's how we should all run our business because it goes back to my point to the doctor's appointment, right? If it's your brother or your sister that has an important appointment, you want them to be good, you want to give them peace of mind to go to that appointment and not having to think about work. And the you know, I work for corporate America, my share of the years and thank God that I work for a very good company, Canadian, Nortel and I also work at Merrill Lynch, but you see how we dehumanize work, and it shouldn't be separate. Work is a huge part of who we are. We spend most of our days in our offices, and it's not separate from our lives. And so I think COVID has allowed us to see that, that we can still be very efficient, we can still run our businesses and do our jobs, you know, sometimes by not being in an office just by being home. I think that's part of what the great resignation is, is that people realize that they can have a different life and that they were going through the motions in having traditional jobs, but they were not happy at the end of the day. 33:34 Carley Hauck Definitely, yes, we bring our whole selves to work and to home no matter what and I think it's become definitely something that we can't pretend isn't happening and hasn't always happened. 33:50 Leticia Van Splunteren It's been so challenging, you know, to your point that you know that we are thriving we are thank God and we you know, by we have had to do so many pivots and even my father says he pains me to see what you guys are going through because in his time integrity, your worth, not lying to a customer to get business those were were qualities that were appreciated by the customers. And now we are living unfortunately in a time that the customer wants you to tell them what they want to hear. And there's people out there that will tell them anything just to get a purchase order even knowing it's a lie but you know when you work for the family business, I cannot lie. I always tell people I have 50 years of my father's legacy on our shoulders. 34:40 Carley Hauck Yeah, the brand reputation, yeah, wonderful. 34:45 Leticia Van Splunteren I will destroy you much more than you're just a project or a bad deal if I did that. But then you know, to the point of something my husband always tells me he's a very philosophical guy. He says How is good gonna win when evil plays by different rules? And we've been in that position so many times where you, you know, you know that the customer is being lied to is not being treated fairly, it's because you lose the deal, because the others don't play fair. So you have to make a commitment, who do you want to be as a company and as a person? 35:25 Carley Hauck Definitely, I really appreciate that example. So Neptuno is this family business that you are the CEO of? It's in the telecommunications industry. And tell me why this is so important right now, as we have 5G, and what are the obstacles around having this worldwide network where we're just able to really connect with one another? And then what are also the possibilities? 35:57 Leticia Van Splunteren I thank you for that question. Currently, because you know, I've done many podcasts, initially, it's all technology driven, or all, you know, self development, kind of this kind of conversation. And it's so important to intersect our worlds and to share with each other what we all do, because it's all definitely intertwined. So our company started building the telecom towers that you see by the road, so be the big tower towers that really enable the first cell phone calls. So I'm very proud that, you know, throughout the 50 years, we've installed over 10,000, in the Americas, many, many of them are in the islands, where they were the first, you know, tower and means of communication for small towns, so to see, you know, someone being able to call home because now they have a tower, and they have the infrastructure available to make that phone call has always been something I've been very proud of. And I think that unfortunately, we have lost respect for what's behind our cell phones. There's so many people and so much technology that goes behind being able to make that phone call, or to stay connected or to do WhatsApp. So that's just to say, you know, that I'm very passionate about raising awareness about what the telecom industry does, because he has become a commodity in a way. And is there something everybody has these days is a cell phone is a smartphone. And so the 5G, what is this? Why is it important? You know, when when the first technology that enable that cellular phone call came about was very revolutionary, right, we get the opportunity to do a phone call from the car for the very first time, 5G, you know, all the technologies in between one G while the what is called Zero G, or one G. And then 5G, you know, has brought us a step closer, where you couldn't text, you know, that 2G technology gave you that, and then you couldn't stream 4G technology gave you that. So there's a lot of, you know, progress that we made. 5G, what it's gonna give us is almost like that real time ability to do things like robotics. We couldn't do robotics, you know, for the longest time, and now, this is the technology that is gonna enable that. And it's always basically always connected. Streaming. You know, it's very exciting. And I will take three hours to explain it, but I'm very, very lucky to be in this industry and be enabling that communication. 38:45 Carley Hauck Well, thank you, because it just taught me a lot about that industry, because it's not one that I have supported, and the companies and leaders, so thank you for sharing that. And thank you for being in service. 39:02 Leticia Van Splunteren Thank you. And we are in a workforce shortage. So if anybody you know is interested, this is the perfect time. It's a very exciting industry to join in. 39:10 Carley Hauck Hmm. Well, we will leave links to how folks can get in touch with you after the podcast. So awesome. People that are interested, reach out to Leticia. So I want to move us into this incredible new venture and experience that you clearly have been thinking about visioning for a while, where you're bringing leaders together for an incredible, transformational time, at the beginning of April, in Sicily, Italy. And I feel grateful and delighted that you have invited me to come and support the facilitation in co-creation of this event, and what inspired you to want to bring folks together in this way at this time. 39:57 Leticia Van Splunteren Thank you, Carley . And we're so excited that you're joining us. That's really one of the best things of the whole Back to Basics experience. But what inspired me is, three years ago, I started a podcast called Back to Basics, Reconnecting to the Essence of You, moved by the intuition that, you know, while I enabled telecommunications and coming in connections in what I do, I also realized we are losing human connection, we are not talking to each other, we're not having enough inspiring conversations such as this one. And so I started the podcast as a side gig. And, you know, you've been on it. So I'm very honored as well. But you know, it just has spun off into all these opportunities and interesting people. And so my husband and I had the idea- what if we do something in a place that will be so beautiful, but also will create like a cohort of, you know, people that are open to just go through a transformational experience. And so we decide the the whole week, which will happen April 2 to the eighth in Sicily, where my parents are from, and it's, you know, in the town, my dad's down, we're going to have a beautiful castle, all to ourselves, which is our boutique hotel owned by very good friends. And we will have, you know, daily sessions facilitated by you. And by professor, Paul McGee, who's going to be a special speaker for two days. And we'll talk about you know, all things that we're talking here, you know, your book is going to be, you know, base basis will serve as a great basis of conversations. And also, we realize that people want to have fun, people want to explore other places. And so we're gonna have some beautiful, beautiful day tours to the city of Armenian, Siracusa and Noto. We have three world UNESCO World Heritage towns that will will visit but we are embedding you know, the program, the program that you will facilitate, into these experiences so that it's not like we're going to be, you know, in a classroom all day we're going to be experiencing and that's why, you know, being embodied, yes, yes. That's why it's called the Back to Basics experience, because life doesn't happen. In a classroom. In a conference room, life happens while you're talking while you're having a great meal. Why not have a great Prosecco, you know, I want it to be, you know, more real to what we go through in our daily lives. 42:41 Carley Hauck Wonderful. Well, for those of you that are listening, and you're thinking Sicily in April, and being with other leaders and learning and growing and connecting, and learning how to bring our best to work in the world. We would love to have you and there will be links in the show notes on how you can come and join us. 43:08 Leticia Van Splunteren I love it. Yeah, the whole purpose is to have inspired connections, just as what I feel I'm having with you right now and inspired connection. That's really what we are envisioning in this one week to be inspired connections in the most beautiful place you can imagine. 43:22 Carley Hauck Can't wait 43:23 Leticia Van Splunteren Me either. So I hope that your audience gets excited to look it up. And we still have a few rooms left. So I encourage everybody to just check it out. 43:37 Carley Hauck Yeah. Well, Leticia, I'm loving this conversation. And I could talk to you all day. And I'll get an opportunity to do that when we're in Italy. But for now, as we wrap up, I have two last questions for you. Because you are the last interview and guest of 2021. And because we are at the end of the year, I always love the ritual of letting go and bringing in and in my experience, when we let something go, we really give room for the new. And the letting go could be a person that's not serving you. Right. It could be a client, it could be a pattern or a narrative that you have that's keeping you stuck. It could be an unhealthy habit, you know, anything that you're thinking, you know, I don't want to bring this with me into 2022 because it's keeping me stuck in some way. And then what is it that you're calling in that you're bringing in it's going to replace that? I feel so curious to hear. 44:46 Leticia Van Splunteren Okay, well, that's a yeah, it's a good question. So what I want to leave out it's something I've been working for since the beginning of the year. It's, you know, I realized somehow human beings we got wired in to having to create a story to everything that happens to us. And I'm very good at that. So let's say a customer doesn't respond to an email, and I'm already thinking they're not gonna buy from me, they're talking to my competitor. And I just create this narrative. And the story in my head that I realize, you know, is fantasy is science fiction, because it's my head, saying something that he may or may not be. But he creates so much suffering for me when I create these stories that are just things that I'm imagining. And so what I'm leaving out is that need to attach a story to something that happened. And just to accept the fact of what happened for what it is, is just the customer didn't respond to the email, and just let it be. 48:47 Carley Hauck I love that just yeah, just just staying with what is. Oh, so this just happened? Got it. Okay, letting go until more information comes in. 48:50 Leticia Van Splunteren Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so then with that, what I bring into it is just hope and a deep trust that whatever just happened happened for the greater good. And just to sit in that deep trust that, you know, and I don't have to know the explanation, I don't have to know why. You know, I think that's why the biggest way of saying it is I don't have to know the why of things and why this happened. And what's the purpose of these and really creates a lot of suffering. And I've been practicing it as we enter the new year. And it's really liberating to just let it be. 46:35 Carley Hauck And I also want to acknowledge that that's not always so easy. 46:39 Leticia Van Splunteren No it's not that's why I said I've been working on it for a long time. It's not something that I've just taken because it takes practice. 46:47 Carley Hauck It does. It does. I think that I'm going to join you in that. Let's be accountability buddies. I love it. 46:54 Leticia Van Splunteren Let's do it. 46:56 Carley Hauck Okay, well, we have had such an incredible conversation. You've left me and everyone with so many wonderful, real tips from your own experience. And I'm just really thankful for you taking time today with me and the SHINE podcast. Is there anything you'd like to leave before we end? 47:15 Leticia Van Splunteren Just, you know, gratitude, Carley, for giving me the space to share my thoughts with you. I know, I mean, I'm a follower. I am a subscriber of your podcast. And I know you have very, very high caliber individuals in this podcast. So I'm very humbled that you asked me to join and I'm humbled that you are co creating Back to Basics with with us. So I'm just very grateful to have met you this year. 47:40 Carley Hauck Ah, likewise, I'm very excited to continue this journey with you. And you're such a beautiful embodiment of so many of the other leaders. So you're, you're, you know, totally in line with everyone else that I've interviewed. So thank you again. 48:00 Leticia Van Splunteren Well, thank you for that. And you know, best of luck to anybody listening since I'm the last episode, let's make 2022 a great year and you know, there's going to be ups and there's going to be down, that's a certainty to expect that everything is only up, it's unrealistic. So let's just make the best of what comes our way. 48:19 Carley Hauck Definitely. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Leticia for your time and for your commitment to being a conscious inclusive leader. If you have questions or want to connect with Leticia her LinkedIn handle and other links will be available for you in the show notes. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together. And the more that you share, the more that we can support one another. And as we spoke about this incredible experience in Sicily, Italy, April 2 through eighth, we would love to have you join us. And you can go to the link in the show notes. Or you can also go to leticialatino.com/backtobasics-experience. You can reach out to Leticia or I to learn more information about this incredible week of transformation connection purpose. If you have any questions, comments or topics that you would like me to address on the podcast, email me at support@carleyhauck.com. As always, I love hearing from you. Thank you so much for tuning in and being part of this community. What a year and I have incredible speakers and interviews lined up starting at the beginning of 2022. You do not want to miss out so if you have not, hit the subscribe button, go and subscribe to the shine podcast. Be safe, be healthy. Take time to nurture your well being, reflect and let go. And until we meet again in 2022 to be the light and shine the light my friend.

E134: Carley Hauck- Leading in a way that Matters

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2021 37:07

Carley Hauck is an acclaimed author, organizational and leadership development consultant, Stanford Instructor, executive coach, and sought-after speaker who teaches people, leaders, and teams to lead consciously from the inside out and develop a workplace and a world that prioritizes people and planet first. Carley is the founder of Leading from Wholeness, a leadership and organizational training firm. She has over 15 years experience in designing and developing impactful change management, training, motivational keynotes, and inclusive leadership/manager development programs at some of the best organizations in the world including: Stanford University, Intuit, Pixar, Asana, LinkedIn, Capital One, Bank of the West, Clif Bar & Company, UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, high growth startups, and more. Carley's new book Shine-Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world debuted February 2021 with her publisher Sounds True. SHINE will be Internationally Released during this event!Carley also hosts the Shine podcast with over 50 inspiring episodes. The podcast explores how business leaders are bringing innovative leadership skills, high performance, and awareness practices to advance a more sustainable, just and inclusive workplace and world. Carley holds a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology and is one of the first Certified Psychological Safety Practitioners by the Fearless Organization. Leran more from Carley at:https://carleyhauck.comCarley Hauck (she/her/hers) | LinkedInWant to book your spot for Back2Basics Experience? Visit:BACK2BASICS EXPERIENCE | Leticia Latino

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Cultivate a High Trust Culture with Susan Campbell

climate change stanford shine heart centered leadership carley hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2021 56:24

Our topic for today is how to cultivate a high trust culture. This seems like one of the most important aspects as we really embrace the hybrid virtual world of work. In this interview, I speak with the author, speaker and therapist Dr. Susan Campbell. Susan and I talk about how we cultivate a high trust culture. We speak about what a trigger is, what causes it, and some common workplace triggers. When we have the skills to navigate our triggers with confidence and skill, we can create greater psychological safety, inclusion, and trust. This is what our workplace and our world needs more of. Susan and I cover the topic of the inner game of authenticity, how to cultivate it, and why that is one of the most important things we can create to clear and repair in our one on ones and in our teams. We also discuss and highlight key conversations and practices from Susan's newest book, From Triggered to Tranquil. There are so many inspiring practices for you in this episode. Thank you for tuning into this empowering episode. SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Book Carley for speaking Sign up for the Podcast! Carley on LinkedIn Susan Campbell From Triggered to Tranquil: How Self-Compassion and Mindful Presence Can Transform Relationship Conflicts and Heal Childhood Wounds by Susan Campbell Mentioned in this Episode Meditation Practice Resources from Carley SHINE Podcast Episode #48- How to Calm Emotional Triggers at Work and in Life with Carley Hauck Shareables: “If I'm going to be an effective leader, I have to be able to relate to so much diversity.” — Susan Campbell “Honest feedback is one of the best technologies for learning to be more authentic.” — Susan Campbell “No good can come of trying to make a decision when you're triggered.” — Susan Campbell “It's an important time to practice transforming our reactivity to triggers.” — Carley Hauck The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 0:01 Hi, and welcome to the SHINE podcast. I am your host Carley Hauck. This podcast focuses on the science, spiritual perspective and application of conscious, inclusive leadership. The recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. Before I tell you about the inspiring topic today, can you go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button. And if you love this episode, please write a positive review. It helps so much. In season five of the SHINE podcast, we are speaking to thought leaders, business leaders and Game Changers about how we can cultivate the inner game qualities to thrive in the midst of these ongoing complexities and challenges we have at work and at home. Our topic for today is how to cultivate a high trust culture. This seems like one of the most important aspects as we really embrace the hybrid virtual world of work. In this interview, I speak with one of my mentors and dear friends Dr. Susan Campbell. Susan and I will speak about how do we cultivate high trust culture. And one of those ways is by transforming our reactivity, our trigger patterns individually, and then we're able to transform them collectively, so that we can create human centered workplaces that lead from empathy. We will speak about what is a trigger, what causes it, and even common workplace triggers. We also go into the topic of the inner game of authenticity, how to cultivate it, and why that is one of the most important things we can create to clear and repair in our one on ones and in our teams. When we have the skills to navigate our triggers with confidence and skill, we can create greater psychological safety, inclusion, and trust. This is what our workplace and our world needs more of. My guest for today is Dr. Susan Campbell. Susan received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts in 1967. Since then, she has been a couples therapist, relationship coach, speaker, workshop leader, and trainer of professional coaches. She has written 11 previous books on relationships. And she started the couple and family therapy graduate training program at UMass and has been a frequent guest faculty at Harvard, Stanford and UCLA. She trains coaches and therapists to integrate the tools in this book into their professional practices. And this book, her newest book that we'll be talking about today, From Triggered to Tranquil, is a gem. There are so many inspiring practices for you in this episode. Thanks for being here. Hello, Susan, thank you for being here with the SHINE podcast. I am delighted to have you. Susan Campbell 3:53 Thank you so much for inviting me thoroughly. Carley Hauck 3:56 So Susan, I know you have listened to the SHINE podcast, which I feel very honored by. And one of the first questions that I often ask my guests is, why does conscious, inclusive leadership matter to you? Susan Campbell 4:14 Well, a leader has to be able to see the big picture. So right away being able to see from a whole system's perspective, that's inclusive and that's part of what consciousness is, the more conscious people are, the more different angles they can see reality from. So why all that's important is because you're trying to work for the good of the whole and your organization has many different personality types, diverse backgrounds, even different levels of consciousness and levels of self awareness and you as a leader or I as a leader have to be able to operate with that big of a view that big of a heart that cannot be judgmental, or excluding people who are not like me, I have, if I'm going to be an effective leader, I have to be able to relate to so much diversity. And that's a tall order for leaders today. But you remember, when you're the leader, you are, yes, you partly the visionary, and you have a point of view. But you also, you're going to be working with a lot of diversity. So you really have to understand that people are going to be pulling in different directions. And you have to have a way of at least being able to hear and empathize with and relate to a lot of different personal realities. Carley Hauck 5:58 Right, and, yeah, and different worldviews and different perspectives. Right. And I really liked what you said that everyone is coming in with a different level of consciousness. And so again, to really have that be part of how you're viewing each person that you're interacting with. And that gives us more of an invitation to be compassionate, when that person, you know, based on their own life experiences, is showing up like this right now. Susan Campbell 6:31 Yeah, different levels of so many things, what occurs to me now is different levels of feeling safe in the world. And safety is a big deal for all of your people you may not realize. And I when I'm when I'm the leader, and I'm in charge, I honestly just naturally feel safe, because I'm kind of the big cheese. But I don't realize sometimes that some of the other people do not feel that safe. Carley Hauck 7:04 So I'm going to move us into the next question. You have written so many incredible books, I have a few of them in my house right now. And you have really honed in on communication and supporting people to be effective in their communication, you know, at home and at work. And I feel curious, why have you focused on that subject? Susan Campbell 7:32 Well, in any system, a mark of a healthy system is good communication between all the sub parts. So that means information flow, that doesn't get blocked by defensiveness in the system such as well, that's, that's their fault, or that's their, that's their domain, that's not my domain. And so I don't have to listen to your complaint, you know, all that buck passing that goes on in big companies. I know some of our listeners have smaller, more manageable systems that they're working with. But that's the lifeblood of your organization is good information flow. And there's a lot of, I'm gonna say, bad information. And when I say bad, I mean, not true. People covering up like not willing to ask for help, not willing to admit mistakes, not willing to admit they don't know something. And so all of these things are blocks in good communication. But by being a good conscious, inclusive leader, who understands all these things, and understands that people need to feel safe in order to communicate effectively, at least that's one thing, they knew they needed a few other things too, like self awareness, and some company norms that don't punish honesty. So now those are a few things that a system needs in order to promote good information flow. But if you understand what gets in the way of information flow, like those things that I mentioned, you can create systems that make sure that there's good communication within your company. Carley Hauck 9:23 And what you're really speaking to is psychological safety. Is there psychological safety? Or is there the absence of psychological safety, which allows people to feel like they can share their experiences and their worldviews? Their feedback without punishment, criticism, rejection? Susan Campbell 9:41 Yeah, yeah. Carley Hauck 9:45 And authenticity is something that I know that you have really specialized in your own personal life, but also in the books and in your various offerings. And I believe you've also been trained in radical honesty. Tell me how you practice authenticity in your personal and professional life, like what are some tips that just allow you to lead from that place. And then on the receiving end, you're inviting more authenticity from others? Susan Campbell 10:18 Well, let's, let's define authenticity. One way to define that is there's a match between what's inside you, like what you know, to be true for yourself, and what comes out of your mouth. So it's congruent. So you're congruent with what you say and what you feel and believe. Another aspect of authenticity, however, that's a little less common is, the more self aware you are, the more honest you can be. And when I mean, when I say self aware, are you aware of your own cognitive biases? Like only Oh, always wanting people who are more your worldview? You can hear those people. I can hear people who are my worldview, but if somebody has a different worldview, I just have no time for that. Are you? Are you aware of how your childhood conditioning affects what you pay attention to, and what you're willing to speak? There's so many filters that humans look through right now. Even you're placing an organization in a big organization, if you're in sales, they've got one set of norms, as opposed to the production, manufacturing, or research and development, who have a whole other set of norms, because the research is all about being very careful and slow and methodical. Sales is just about get er, done, you know? So understanding that there's, there's a subculture within the corporate culture based on what your what your job description is. So all of these things are part of your self awareness. Are you aware of all the factors that you filter through in trying to solve a problem and trying to communicate with somebody who may be from a different subgroup than you, like, for example, sales, talking to r&d, that sort of thing. Carley Hauck 12:30 And I'm, I'm going to push a little bit more towards you, how have you developed your self awareness so that you can be authentic? Susan Campbell 12:41 Well, I went to a lot of groups, like the groups I lead, where people give you feedback. And there's a lot of this going on, in, in various companies now big and small, where people either go to a stranger group, or they have somebody come in like a team building consultant, and facilitate feedback sessions. So this is how I experienced you. And so it just helps people to learn that somebody not liking everything about you, won't kill you, you know, you do, you do have to develop some, you do develop some emotional resilience, I think by being in groups where people give each other honest feedback. So that's one of the best technologies for learning to be more authentic, and also learning to see yourself more objectively there's others but that's, that's one that a lot of people already understand, I think, Carley Hauck 13:45 Well, I've been in groups with you and I would consider you to be a mentor of mine. And I've always appreciated how you put yourself in the ring, you know, you've you've shared about your childhood, your, your relationships, Peter, your beloved is often in group setting. So that I think brings a whole nother level of authenticity as well. Now, obviously, we're not gathering in physical groups like we used to, but I think that there's a way in which you show up just as you are, which really supports other people to feel like they can show up as they are. Susan Campbell 14:30 So yeah, take some inner work, to get over needing to hide the things about oneself. Or myself, let's say that I'm not super proud of you know, it takes some inner work but you and it takes some of that group work woman, but you have a value of those of us who value authenticity, also have a value on learning is more important than looking good. And if I think that's always been my passion, learning is more important than anything else. So even if somebody doesn't like something, or somebody criticizes you or I criticize myself, there's always some learning in it. And I basically go, Okay, if I had that to do over, I would have done it this way. Because in the moment, I didn't see it as clearly as I see it now. So I use that practice a lot for my own authenticity. I call it revising, or going out and coming in again, it's like, well, I said the wrong thing in that meeting, but next time we meet, I'm gonna correct that. And I'm gonna say, Hey, I'd like to have a do over here. Carley Hauck 15:43 Right? It's, it's refining. And I've definitely seen you do that. And I think that's part of also being a conscious, inclusive leader, that growth mindset, and always being willing to learn, to take responsibility to repair if possible. And I know that's, that's part of what we're going to be talking about in just a little bit in our session. So I want to give some light to your most recent book, From Triggered to Tranquil: How Self Compassion and Mindful Presence Can Transform Relationship Conflicts and Heal Childhood Wounds. Susan, this is a phenomenal book. I remember when the pandemic hit and you said, I'm writing a new book. So why this book? Why that? Tell me more? Susan Campbell 16:34 Well, we live in a traumatized culture right now. And so this really is illuminating. I said the word safety earlier, it's illuminating how many people walk through life feeling unsafe, and how we really don't know what's behind the face of another human. But so often, when they behave in a way that we think is inappropriate. There's some level of triggered and trigger triggers is just the word for reacting in the present to some perceived threat. Like I'm not safe, because that person is speaking to me. And they've got this flat tone of voice and this look on their face that I read as disapproval. So there's no there's a lot of that in common, you know, common business, relationships, misreading each other's cues and filtering them through these old fears that come from attachment traumas. I mostly deal in the book with the kind of traumas that are happened in childhood, when your childhood needs are not met, like the need for safety, the need for reassurance, you can go to somebody when you're scared, and they'll calm you down and help you learn that you can actually self regulate and down regulate the nervous system when you're all all fearful and, and excited. So the word trauma can refer to just not getting your basic needs met as a child. But I said a minute ago, we live in a traumatized society right now. And so much of what's going on love just the lack of coherent leadership in the sense that our country is polarized between the red states and blue states, let's just call them and okay, are our presidents doing pretty good. But there's a lot there's a lot of chaos in like, Who's in charge here? And where's it going? And that is traumatic for a lot of people, particularly, any of us who grew up in families where we call them in my business, we call them disorganized, families, families, where you really didn't feel like there was a totally competent adult there, who you could always depend on. And we all need that. And so many of us, maybe just because our parents were busy, but a lot of times, it's more like our parents are so wrapped up in their own needs, that they don't really have the bandwidth to fully be present to the child the way the child needs. And no, I don't want to blame anybody for that. Partly it's this system that keeps parents so busy, and so darn stressed about money. So you know, I see all of this systemically. But when we're in a time of such uncertainty and quite a bit of chaos, that is very destabilizing, ie traumatizing to people's nervous systems, and that has a lot of people coming from the more primitive part of the brain that focuses on survival and almost feels like gee, you know, there's so much uncertainty. Am I gonna have my job tomorrow, what's going to happen to the economy, a whole bunch of things like that some of us can relate. And that has going on. Yeah, they're going around from the reptile part of their brain not making very good decisions, instead of the prefrontal cortex. So that's why I wrote the book, I want people to be able to calm that scared part of yourself, and regulate yourself. And know that this is kind of a group a group effort here, we've got to help each other to realize that a lot of people are traumatized, but work with our own nervous systems, so that we can stay in our intelligent zone rather than our primitive zone, and make better decisions for our future. Carley Hauck 20:56 I love it. So to really be in service, in the midst of seeing even more trauma, even more reactivity, based on the pandemic, and really this, this collective transformation that we're going through, but the way that we move through it together, as you've already just shared, is we have to find a way to heal individually, like whatever those wounds are, so that we're not looking at the other as enemy. Susan Campbell 21:32 Right. And leaders, we need more conscious, inclusive leaders, leaders have the opportunity to promote calming ourselves and pausing and realizing the psychological dimension of humans, because we didn't used to bring, we didn't used to be able to, like bring our emotions to the workplace. I mean, we thought we didn't, you know, but now it's much more accepted. And that's a good development. Carley Hauck 22:03 So in the book, you refer to triggers, you define it as? Well, I'll let you define it. Susan Campbell 22:16 Sure. Well, it's basically what we're talking about is trigger reactions. I mean, a trigger can trigger can be like a sharp tone of voice. But the trigger reaction is what we're more curious and interested in a trigger reaction, when I hear a sharp tone of voice is a thought, that person is criticizing me. And then underneath that another thought, I'm not good enough, or I'm going to be controlled, or some, you know, some fear thought like that. So then there's body sensations like tightness in the chest or wanting to run out of the room. So becoming more aware of our own reactions to various kinds of cues that we take as threatening in our environment. And being able to instantly go, Oh, I'm in a trigger reaction, I'm coming from that reptile part of the brain, that fight flight freeze, yell, scream, run away, shut down part of the brain, instead of the part of the brain that can see options that can problem solve, that can collaborate, empathize. And so it's super important that we learn how to get our higher brain back online, instead of staying in that triggered place. Because no good can come of trying to make a decision when you're triggered, like, don't push send on that email rant when you're triggered. Carley Hauck 23:43 Definitely, and, and as you shared before, the trigger is often coming from this unresolved past trauma from childhood. You know, that coworker, or that supervisor is restimulating, and it's like, Wait, that's not my mother. That's not my brother. But you know, there's this projection that's happening, because we haven't actually maybe even been conscious that that is a pattern that we've been replaying over and over again, so when you talked about self awareness, it's coming back to really getting curious about this particular pattern that I play out when I'm triggered. And you have so many wonderful examples in the book, on, you know, triggers at home or you're triggered with a friend, but because we're talking more about the context of the workplace, how do we calm ourselves down? If we're triggered in a group or a meeting, and you actually give some specific scenarios of you might be triggered here or here or here, different categories. So we probably don't have time to go through all of them. But I can list a couple and you could share more information for our listeners. How does that sound? Susan Campbell 25:00 Great. Carley Hauck 25:02 So, let's say that I get triggered, because I'm feeling criticized in a group meeting. Tell me more about that one. Susan Campbell 25:10 Well, okay, so leaders need to be aware that there are a lot of different incidents that could happen, that could trigger somebody, and you as a leader wouldn't be wouldn't be aware of it. But if somebody criticizes somebody else in a group, I want to help the leader see, from the leader's view why this is important, it's important to realize that if one member criticizes another member, that other members who got the criticism might be triggered, and you ought to watch for things like them withdrawing, shutting down, not contributing any more. And if you're the leader, you might want to say, you know, when, so and so said that to you, I felt I felt a little ouch, I felt a little out of my heart. And so I just, I just want you to know that I'm here to support you if you need anything. In other words, empathize, reach out to the person that you think might have taken something a little, a little so hard, that they're not that they're now in their primitive brain, and they're not able to function as a good team member. Carley Hauck 26:34 So that could even look like, for example, a microaggression. That's happening in the middle of the meeting. And in that regard, I think it's very important that the leader or other team members of the group actually call that in the presence it. But I also think just like what you're saying, it can be very supportive to go up to that person one on one, and share something along the lines of what you just said, to show that you care to show that you noticed that you acknowledged and to invite a conversation around it, because there could even be, what would you like for me to do if that ever happens again? Is there a way I could support you? Susan Campbell 27:12 Yeah, you might, you know, some of this, you might pick up a conversation with the person who seemed triggered after the meeting, but sometimes it depends on the context, sometimes it fits to do it in the meeting. And as far as confronting a person who, who was aggressive, you mentioned micro aggression. That's a delicate, that's a delicate area, because the person who's doing the micro aggression is already triggered. You know, and so I mean, you can, you can say, well, we don't do that in here, or, you know, it's time to read, you know, remind ourselves of what our ground rules for safety are, and stuff like that. I mean, you can do all those managerial speeches, but the person who was aggressing will, that that will not touch their lack of safety. And if you confront them outright in the group, that'll make them feel even less safe. So I recommend dealing with that. Depending on the degree of things, sometimes you can remind people of our, you know, our safety ground rules in a neutral way, but you might also need to speak to the person outside and just personal direct communication, though, not top down, not you know, or, you know, boy, ah, you need to know, you know, use statements versus I statements, you know, use you statements just create disconnection, but I statements, this is a classic communication 101. You know, when I heard you do that, I said to myself, is there some way that your needs are not being met here in this team? Maybe start with an inquiry like that, but making an I statement, my ground rules in the getting read practices are, talk about your feelings. Name your thoughts as thoughts, name, your feelings, as feelings. And a good tool is to be able to narrate yourself talk like when I heard that I said to myself, because that's a kind of very personal way to be able to actually make an opinion known, make your opinion nominal, that you were somewhat unhappy, but you're not judging the person. You're relating it from your own place, a personal place. Carley Hauck 29:51 Great. That's really helpful. The other thing I want to just share as far as context and I'd love to go into a few more, I think what makes it so hard in this remote distributed virtual world of work is that so many of the leaders and teams that I'm talking to, including even just our coordination today, so many of us are going from one thing to the next, without a lot of transition without a lot of break. And the way that our nervous systems are wired is that we need pauses, we need time to slow down to be able to integrate the last conversation. So this type of criticism, microaggression, active exclusion, whatever you want to call could have happened in a meeting. And then I have another meeting to go to, and then another one and another one. And I know that that just happened. I know, I want to have a follow up conversation. But what I'm really trying to encourage as we redesign the workplace, because this is the fabulous opportunity that we get right now is, how do we create more transition time? Why are we pushing so fast all the time, because it's not going to lead to effective communication, and we're gonna keep getting triggered. It's like, the perfect setup for triggers. Susan Campbell 31:16 Well, starting meetings with a personal check in noticing what are you feeling? What are you thinking? How present? Are you? What are you doing? What are you carrying over from your last meeting, okay? If you're carrying over something, and you need to have a conversation, you know, jot down when you're going to have that conversation, that clearing the air conversation or finishing the conversation that got interrupted, because you had to go to the next meeting. Just jot down something little so you can like park that somewhere else besides right in front of you, because we want to be as present as possible for this meeting and this agenda. But we've all been 50 different places in order to get here. Exactly things like that. Carley Hauck 32:05 Yeah, I really liked that invitation. Let's talk about the plop. Tell me what the plop is. Susan Campbell 32:14 That name plop comes from group dynamics. So this is in my chapter in From Triggered to Tranquil about frequent events that trigger people that a leader ought to be watching for. One of them is criticism, like we talked about before somebody criticizing somebody else publicly. Another one is somebody makes an offering, has an idea, a good idea. You know, people are brainstorming, and all of a sudden somebody says something, and then nobody says anything. It's like you've asked, you've given your gift. And nobody said thank you, nobody acknowledged it. That's called the Plop, it just sort of plops in the middle of the floor, let's say no, and nobody picks it up. And that can be very hard for some members. So once again, the leader slash facilitator can be the one that picks it up. No, no. Or notice, gee, I No, I noticed that as soon as Grace said that, there was silence. And I know Grace if I was you and that happened I might really be wondering, you know, what did I say, Oh, are you wondering anything like that? And I don't know, kind of just move things to a human level. Plops aren't the worst thing in the world, but people, some people do have triggers about being ignored, or my voice doesn't matter. And so you want to be able to sooth that person's nervous system and get back to work. Carley Hauck 34:00 Great. I also think it's important that team members can notice that they don't necessarily have to have the formal role of leader that they can also chime in and say, Hi, I, I just heard Cassandra speak to this. And I'm interested, tell me more, right? When no else responds. Susan Campbell 34:19 Perfect. I love that. Carley Hauck 34:22 And scarcity, in the sense that we're all rushing so much, but that one seems intuitive. But let's talk to that one because it's real. Susan Campbell 34:29 Okay, so just leaving a group an hour ago, Carley, and one of the men said, Gee, this group is too short. I mean, he just comes right out with it. Most people in groups, they might not say this, this group is too short. And I'm not getting enough time to say all the things that I needed to say. So just know that if this person was able to say it, there may be quite a few others in the group that are also feeling something like that. These are the people who have triggers around being attended to versus being ignored no time for me. See, so much of this adult sensitivities in meetings connect to early childhood, lack of some sort. So this man has confessed before in groups, because my groups are more personal growth oriented. He's confessed before that he has issues about getting enough attention and getting enough air time. So just know that it's, it's if whoever the facilitator is, and this is often different than a leader, because it's a group facilitation role, where you're supposed to manage the time and make sure everybody gets a chance to say something. So there's a lot of devices for making sure everybody gets a chance to say something, but the main one is called rounds. Like, okay, we've got this question on the floor, can we go round the circle and each person weigh in on this in one minute, on the thing I time, people, but it's very important to make sure everybody has a chance, at least to speak. Carley Hauck 26:21 Wonderful. So I've been facilitating a lot of these team building sessions. And some of the feedback that I've been getting recently is that I'll come in and I'll give a 90 minute talk. And I was told a couple weeks ago that they wanted more time. So now the next workshop is going to be two hours because like what you're saying, especially in the midst of the pandemic, when we've had more social distance, more social isolation, we are all craving connection, we're craving intimacy. And I think we're all wanting to feel attended to and to feel seen in different ways. And now that home and work are not separate anymore, and they never really were, there's, there's again, such an opportunity to find new ways for acknowledgement for that deeper connection. And I feel curious, like, what are you wanting and needing for this new workplace, knowing that that is a real desire. Susan Campbell 37:36 The workplace is where most people spend more of their time than they spend with their families. And let's face it, we get a lot of our social needs met at the workplace, and we still want everybody to be working, too. So it's, it's, it's a little, it's a little tricky to keep people on the job. And still also realize that they need time to say, you know, how's your daughter doing here, she had an operation, simple things like that. Um, I know that a lot of them, a lot of the meetings that I facilitate in, in companies, large and small people will do a kind of a check in something new and good in your life, a personal check in now something new and good in your life? That has nothing to do with work? No, that's a little check in question. Or you can dream up other personal checking questions. Because there's just really is a hunger for feeling connected if people feel connected, like just little devices that are designed in to the workday. Right, they'll do less of the sneaking around to get connected, you know, going to go into the coffee. I know, when I worked for the government. I spent half my time in the coffee line, you know, because they serve coffee right in right in the building. You know, you're chit chatting, the coffee line. So that's not good. You know, it's not it doesn't serve the overall efficiency mission. But we are more than just efficiency machines. And I think leaders and entrepreneurs are realizing that and probably realize that a long time ago, but let's legitimize it. People need human connection. And let's make it fun to come to work. Carley Hauck 39:40 Definitely. Thank you. So, as we've been talking about some of these different scenarios where we may feel triggered, you've been giving, you know, subtle tips on how you might create a pause, you know, which could be a calling in in the group and acknowledging what was heard what was seen or also going up individually to another person, and then sharing more. Are there other strategies on how to create a pause and a group when you notice that the group, the group, I mean, I guess this is the other thing is that if one person in the group is triggered, than likely the whole group is probably triggered in some way, because we are emotional social beings, and there is emotional contagion. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. Susan Campbell 40:32 That's right. So some people, the triggers, I mean, for some groups, I should say the triggers are going to be obvious, like there's conflict between two members. And you can kind of feel Whoa, the vibe just changed in the room, and everybody feels it. So if it's an obvious trigger situation like that, that's when we say when we say trigger situation, likely to have triggering ripples in almost every group member, except somebody who's maybe checked out, then it's good to actually say, and I encourage leaders and facilitators to do this, at the very beginning, say something like, sometimes things get going a little fast, or sometimes there's, there's conflict in the group, and it has these ripples, like you and I were saying. So if I noticed that, I'm going to say the word pause, and I'm going to invite us all to share three slow conscious breaths. That'll help us learn to regulate our nervous system, reassure ourselves that we are at least physically safe. And that now Okay, we're ready to move on with our agenda. I'm going to do that. But if anybody else either feels triggered, or notices that there's triggering in the space, would you do that too, you just say the word pause. And even if maybe there's no actual triggering, but things are going so fast and, and you're getting overwhelmed, or somebody you think the group mainly is kind of having too much flooding of data coming in, say the word pause, it'll help us all. So something like that. Carley Hauck 42:26 Or it could even be that we take a five minute body break. Yeah. I love that. Just saying pause. You also shared some really helpful questions in the back of this particular chapter that we're talking about regarding, you know, triggers in a group, and it's on group debriefing, revising and repairing. And I thought that these were also really great invitations. You know, one was, how many are feeling the need to debrief today's meeting for a little while. So again, it just brings in more authenticity, or how many I triggered during the group today? Wow, that's just bringing it right home. Over those people, how many are still carrying some sense of agitation or anxiety? It's great. Susan Campbell 43:20 It's really lovely if you can not just have a business meeting, but you have a little personal learning about meetings. See, when you ask how many people were and how many people were as a leader, or facilitator, you're, you're educating people too, oh, if I pay attention to that, and move the energy and feel it and admit it, it changes, it goes away. Some like fear, feeling or anger, feeling that I was kind of, I was gonna walk out of the room with that. If the facilitator gives me a chance to express it even in some small way, and I see I'm not the only one in the room. I can let it go and be more present in my next meeting. Carley Hauck 44:06 You have to name it to tame it. So yes, if we speak to it, we can, we can acknowledge it, and then release it. Yeah. Susan, I could talk to you all day. Thank you so much for this beautiful offering for this book. I know it's helping lots and lots of people. It's getting such great acknowledgement. And thank you again for your time and your service. Susan Campbell 44:35 Thank you for doing these podcasts and all the good work you do. Carley Hauck 44:37 And we will share all the links in the show notes of how people can find you and find your wonderful books and offerings. So you just heard Susan and I spoke about common instances where we might feel triggered in a group or a meeting at work. And I would like to leave you with an important framework that you can use to support clearing the air and encouraging repair. It is normal to feel triggered for a variety of reasons. And our nervous systems are likely wound a little bit more tightly, then they may have been before the pandemic, there is a high level of burnout, we are navigating a lot of complexities and challenges. And on top of that more social distancing. And as human beings, we actually need co-regulation to support our nervous systems to calm down. So I share all of that because it's an important time to practice transforming our reactivity to triggers. What can also exacerbate triggers is we may not feel safe within the team with our supervisor. In one sense, depending on what has happened in the past, or what is currently happening in the moment, there may be a lack of psychological safety or unconscious group dynamics that lead to undercutting covert agendas, competitiveness, domination, and a myriad of triggering events. We often know when a group is operating in a healthy way. And we also know when a group is operating in an unregulated and unhealthy way. If you are in a group, or on a team that is acting in an unhealthy way, I would like to encourage and empower you to use this framework. Regardless if you have formal or informal leadership power, we all need to be leaders right now. And we can lead without authority to support greater collaboration and harmony for the whole. Try on these four steps for clearing and repairing. The first step. Be aware of your own triggers. Why am I feeling triggered? Pause. Breathe into the moment. Notice sensations feelings. offer yourself compassion for being triggered. And then find your way back into balance. What I just shared was broad strokes on how to navigate your own trigger. But I have a practice in my book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. It's in chapter two, and it's called the nest practice. There is also a free audio of this practice. In the Resources section of my website under meditations. This will be in the show notes. To go more deeper into how to self regulate. In the midst of triggers, there is a past solo podcast episode on how to navigate triggers with skill that I recorded a few months ago and this will also be a link in the show notes for you. Okay, so first step, you're aware of your triggers, you've transformed them. You're moving from reactivity to calm and responsive. But how do you care and repair the conversation? Step two, invite the conversation for care and repair. This type of conversation requires a willingness and openness from both parties to connect, communicate and find resolution. If you feel ready to engage in repair, and share your perspective feelings and needs simply set up a time to talk to this other person. And it can be as simple as, hey, I have a question or reflection for you. Can you make 15 to 30 minutes for a quick connection call. My invitation is to set this up in person so that you can see each other because a lot gets lost without the nonverbal behavior. Number three. This is a frame for clearing conversations that has been influenced by Marshall Rosenberg, the father of nonviolent communication and Susan Campbell, our esteemed guest. When I saw, heard, did, said, blank, I was or got triggered. If I could do it over, I would tell you that my fear of blank being ignored and talked over blank was triggered. And I withdrew. What I need is your support. So another way that you could do this- I'll insert the blanks. When I heard you talking over me, in the group meeting yesterday, I became triggered. If I could do it over again, I would tell you that my fear of being ignored and surpassed, was triggered. And I withdrew and felt resentful. What I would like is your support, to bring my ideas forward in a way that serves the team. And I am given acknowledgement, for my ideas for my contribution with appreciation. What do you feel, think, hearing this? So that last question, you're really asking for impact. Because it's a bilateral conversation, you're sharing your experience, and then you're wanting to hear how did that land? I would encourage you to write this frame out. So that it's practice before you say it. And then number four, wait to hear what that person says. Even if it feels uncomfortable, pause, be quiet. You're taking responsibility for your response. And then asking for the other person's feedback so that new agreements and resolution can be made. In addition to this four step framework, which is really just focusing on your internal process, you can also be the leader in repairing and clearing in the context of a group. Any person in a room who feels triggered and is noticing that the group is also triggered, which could be signs of, you know, silence could be signs of reactivity or aggression. You can be that person to pause, and to even presence aloud what is happening in the room. If you've listened to other podcasts, you've heard me say that, when we name it, we tame it. This is called affect labeling in more neuroscience circles. And when we actually name what is happening in the moment, it allows our limbic system to calm down, and we can better regulate our nervous system. And therefore it better regulates everyone's nervous system, because we are social emotional beings, and there is emotional contagion. So if you're triggered in a group or meeting, you can pretty much assure that other people are also going to be triggered. Carley Hauck 53:55 So one way to clear and repair in a group is to simply say, Hey, folks, I noticed there's some tension in the room. I'm feeling curious, do people feel safe to share here? Are some of you not feeling heard or valued? How can we work together to solve this problem? And what does each person need to hear from the group to find resolution? Now, that's a courageous step. That's why having this inner game of authenticity is really supportive, to speak up to have the brave exchanges. I hope that was helpful for you. And if you're interested in learning more about triggers, you can definitely find more information about Susan and her new book. The link will be in the show notes. And I do trainings on this all the time. It's one of my favorite topics. So feel free to reach out to me- support@carleyhauck.com. And we can talk more about how to create a high trust culture in your team or at work. I often use the psychological safety scan as my first measurement to really understand what's happening within the leadership within group dynamics within the culture. And then I'm able to design and develop a very specialized training or even larger program to support you and your culture to thrive. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. And if you have any questions, comments or topics that you would like me to address on the podcast, email me at support@carleyhauck.com. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for tuning in. We have a few more fabulous interviews through the end of the year. And again, Susan, thank you so much for sharing your light. Until we meet again, my friend. Be the light and shine the light.

Heart Centered Leadership Meets Climate Change

Profit Meets Impact

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2021 39:17

In this conversation we dive in deep with Carley Hauck on everything from climate change to heart centered leadership to her book Shine. Through her work as an author, organizational consultant, coach, and Stanford instructor, Carley has gained true wisdom on what it takes to make change on a big scale - and it starts small. This was a really fun and insightful conversation with some very pragmatic ways we can all lead in a more authentic and heart centered way.

How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job with Carson Tate

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2021 53:28

In today's podcast interview you will learn how to make any job your dream job. With a reported 4.3 million people having left the US workforce in August of 2021, this is a very timely topic. The questions I have been asking leaders and teams include the following: Why do you want to stay working with your current team and company? What makes you want to leave? Are there parts of your current job or role that you feel frustrated with? Do you have the mindset to stay and make it work because it's not going to be any better anywhere else? If any of these thoughts have crossed your mind, this podcast is for you. Learn how to advocate for yourself and make your current role work for you with my friend and guest Carson Tate. Carson is the founder and managing partner of Working Simply, a productivity consulting and training firm and author of 2 books, her latest- Own it, Love It, Make it Work: Make Any Job Your Dream Job. Together we explore many tips and conversations you can have to invite optimal conditions for thriving and performance at work. We speak about the importance of building trust, so that we have the psychological safety for contracts and agreements that support work that we love, while having the brave exchanges to talk about healthy boundaries and other conditions that would make us love to stay and bring our best gifts to our teams and workplace. Tune into this encouraging episode today. SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Book Carley for speaking Sign up for the Podcast! Carley on LinkedIn Carson Tate Carson Tate on LinkedIn Working Simply Mentioned in this Episode SHINE Podcast Episode #40- Psychological Safety in the Workplace Assessment: What's Your Personal Productivity Style? Amazon Upskilling 2025 Programs The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 0:01 Hi, my name is Carley Hauck. I am the host of the SHINE podcast. Welcome to another wonderful episode. I am the founder of Leading From Wholeness, a Leadership and Organizational Development Training firm that has served companies including Intuit, Bank of the West, Capital One, Pixar, Clif Bar, LinkedIn, and many high growth startups since 2010. I am also the author of Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. And this podcast is all about the intersection of three things: conscious, inclusive leadership; the recipe for high performing teams; and awareness practices. This season, season five is all about speaking to friends, colleagues, thought leaders, around some of the biggest challenges we are navigating at work and in the world. And in the midst of the reshuffle with reported 4.3 million people having left the US workforce in August of 2021. I speak about a very timely topic: how to make any job your dream job with my good friend, Carson Tate. This is a topic I've been talking to a lot of leaders and teams about. Why do they want to stay working with their current team and company? And what makes them want to leave? Are there parts of your current job or role that you feel frustrated with? Or maybe you're even looking for other possibilities within your company? Or maybe outside of your company? Or are you have the mindset that it's not going to be any better anywhere else? And instead, how do you advocate for yourself and make your current role work for you? If you resonate with either one of these options, this is the podcast for you. In this interview, Carson, I talked about the strong inner game she uses to lead consciously at work and in the world. We explore many tips and conversations you can have to invite optimal conditions for thriving and performance at work. We speak about the importance of building trust, so that we have the psychological safety for contracts and agreements that support work that we love, while having the brave exchanges to talk about healthy boundaries, and other conditions that would make us love to stay. Carson Tate is the Founder and Managing Partner of Working Simply, a productivity consulting and training firm that has served companies including Delta Airlines to Lloyd FedEx, Wells Fargo, and Chick fil A. She's the author of Work Simply: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style and her new book, which we're going to talk quite a bit about in this podcast, Own It, Love It, Make It Work: How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job. Carson, so lovely to have you here on the SHINE podcast. Thank you. Carson Tate 03:25 Thank you. I've been looking forward to it all week in our conversation. So thanks for the opportunity. Carley Hauck 03:43 Ah, you're You're welcome. I'm delighted to go into all these juicy places. So let's start from the top. What motivated you to want to become a business coach, support businesses, leaders, and all the wonderful ways that you do it? Carson Tate 03:58 Hey, we spend almost a third of our waking life at work. And I believe that work can be a place of meaning, purpose and great significance. And in our organizations, our leaders have a significant impact on the well being of their team and the performance of their organization. And I really wanted to help leaders really enable team members to shine- your word- and all facets of that, and not in any way have a focus on developing their folks and connecting to purpose and meaning in any way detract from their driving revenue. I believe both can coexist. Carley Hauck 04:39 Thank you. And what would you define conscious inclusive leadership because I know that's important to you. Carson Tate 04:49 So I would take the two words and pull them apart first. So conscious to me, means awake and aware. And it's grounded and radical self awareness, because I believe that we need to be very clear on how we're showing up, what's influencing us, our values, and that level of self awareness isn't going to impede, it's going to permeate our leadership. So, for me, I focus on the self part of consciousness. And then the inclusion, that it's not just about honoring differences, it's about inviting folks to show up as their authentic selves, and that they feel a sense of belonging, and a connection to the organization, their team members, and the overarching purpose of the work. Carley Hauck 05:46 Hmm. I love how you just broke those apart into the inner and the outer because you know, for my book, I really focused on that the conscious being the inner the inclusive being the outer game, love it. Yeah. Wonderful. Well, I know that in your work, you focus on productivity, you focus on teams, you focus on leadership. And your first book, Working Simply, had a lot to do with productivity. And I know you created this really well regarded productivity skill assessment. And we'll leave a link for the show notes. And then you have a new book, which I have right next to me. Own It, Love It, Make It Work: How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job and super wonderful offering and very timely for right now. And I know this came out about a year ago, correct? Carson Tate 06:44 Correct. Yeah. Carley Hauck 06:46 So I, I wanted to talk to you a bit about this book. Because, as we know, and you obviously didn't know this as you're writing this book, because writing a book takes a long time. But somewhere in the unconscious or spirit or however this was channeled to you, there has been this big upset in the workplace. As of August 2021, we had 4.3 million people leave the workplace. This has been called the Great resignation, the great reshuffle. But in the United States, that's about 2.9% of the workforce. That's huge. And people have been leaving because they want more flexibility, they want more meaning and purpose. They want more empathy and care and psychological safety and inclusion, they want to feel like they belong and don't have to cover parts of themselves and can speak their truth and bring their authenticity like you shared in your definition. They want higher pay. They want the work life balance that maybe they never had. And so this book, again, in so many ways, addresses, how do we make you know, our work, work for us and really own what's important. And so before I go into different aspects of your book, is there anything that you want to say in response to that? Carson Tate 08:14 Well, first, I don't think I had a premonition. But you're right, it is very timely now. And I think also, I'm excited by these statistics, in the sense of it is a very strong catalyst for action. So when 2.9% of the workforce resigns, that is a message that is, I think, a resounding call for change. And everything that you said that we've seen in the research that employees want, sounds wonderful, psychological safety, being seen and valued authentically for who you are compensation that allows you to live your life, care for your family care for our community, meaning and purpose at work, excellent leaders who are able to lead organizations that succeed financially. That's a pretty wonderful description of work. And so when you have these forcing agents, which this type of resignation is, change, isn't oh, maybe nice to do, change now becomes a necessity, which is great. Carley Hauck 09:32 Totally. I know that you have a meditation practice and we'll get into this and yes, in a really big part of the Dharma, so to speak, that I have brought into making the workplace better, and that's the world better. But when there is a lot of suffering, is often when we go to meditation, you know, we don't often sit on our cushion when life is fabulous and great, but I do think that suffering is a huge catalyst for change. And there's a lot to let go of in our world from the way we take care of the planet, to the way that we're working to the way that we're taking care of those we care about. And we love. So there's, there's a lot of opportunity for inner and collective transformation right now. Yeah. So you've, you've really compartmentalized your book in kind of these three sections. Can you tell me what those three sections are? Carson Tate 10:37 Yes. So the first section is Own It. And Own It is all about you getting clear on what your engagement and fulfillment needs are. There is not a one size fits all, Carley, and Carson's might have some similarities, but you have your needs, I have my needs. The second piece around Loving It is how do we create that happiness and that joy at work through relationships? Human beings are social animals, we are primed. It's a primal need. So how do we build those connections that are so important? And how do we continue to advance in our career? And then the third component of the book is Make It Work. So how do you use a technique? It's called job crafting. But how do you start to shape and craft your job and career to meet those fulfillment and engagement needs that you have identified? Carley Hauck 11:30 Wonderful. Well, I'm gonna go into a couple different exercises and aspects of those three parts. I think that'll be really helpful for our listeners here. So, you know, as, as we're talking about, how do we redesign the workplace, for greater empathy, for well being for psychological safety, for fulfillment, I know that some of the ways that you are able to be the strong leader that you are, and your well being practices are around three pillars. And so I thought we could start there. And you called it when we talked a few weeks ago, the three legged stool, I loved that meditation, movement and resting. And when I heard you say that, it really corresponds a lot to the framework for my book. And, you know, how do we cultivate this strong inner game? Well, if we're not taking that time for reflection, you know, the meditation, which is the, you know, building the self awareness. If we don't have self-awareness, we can't change what we don't see, you know, whether that's our own habits and our patterns of responding or reacting, how we're doing it in the workplace, but also then how it corresponds to the greater world. And so tell me a little bit about how you take time, every day for this three legged stool. Carson Tate 16:06 Yes, and I described it as a three legged stool and make a point on the why of that, because I think it's important. I know, in my own life, when one of these legs, let's say, for example, the one I most frequently give up is rest. When that leg isn't secure, the whole entire stool topples over, right, every all of it falls apart. But the way I make time is I start my day with meditation, prayer, reflection, and movement. And I'm a morning person. So I like to protect the early hours of my day for that, it centers me, It grounds me, and it energizes me for the day ahead. Now, rest, for me, is also a part of movement. And we chatted about this as well. So it could be an active rest of my workday, you talked about going outside feet in the ground. And for me, it is outside and just maybe a five or 10 minute stroll around my neighborhood between meetings, just to let my brain rest. And then there's obviously the physical rest of sleep. Carley Hauck 14:13 Thank you. Well, and I brought that in at the beginning because I feel like that's owning the parts of you that are necessary to cultivate first so that you can bring your best to be able to give whatever you're wanting to give at work or in your relationships. Carson Tate 14:39 Yeah. It's that foundational piece. That is so important. Carley Hauck 14:46 Mm hmm. Wonderful. Well, thank you for sharing how you're making that a priority in your life. The part of the Own It section of your book that I really loved was on cultivating a growth mindset. And so when we think about again, meditation as a form of cultivating self awareness supporting the growth mindset, and for folks that are in a work play scenario right now, and I was actually just talking to one of my clients earlier today, and I know you talked to a lot of people as well, and she is focusing on, I can't change this, this isn't working for me, I'm thinking about leaving this current leadership role. And then I encouraged her to focus on Well, what is working? And where actually, can you take some responsibility to maybe ask for what you want in a different way. And so I would love it if you could talk us through this part of your book, but more specifically, you have this fabulous framework called the C framework, could you tell us more about that, and how that supports us to own it. Carson Tate 15:56 Mm hmm. And so the Own It is about the clarity around what you need. And one way that we can get clarity is through personal self reflections. And meditation is great. But another way to get insights and clarity about developmental opportunities and growth theory is through feedback. And most of the time, if we mentioned the word feedback, I don't know about you, but most of us sweat, like, our brains immediately go to the worst case scenario. And so the C framework is a feedback framework that we use with our clients to help them get feedback that is specific, where they can get where they share with their leader or their colleagues, they give an example of the type of feedback and they explain part of the feedback process that third, he is explained what I did or did not do. So it's specific, share an example of the type of feedback that I want. And then my ask of you is to explain the behavior that did or did not occur. So we can be very fact based, very specifically and narrowly defined in one area. So let's say for example, I want to be promoted to a VP of our organization. And I know that succinct, clear communication is one of the competencies of the VPs in our organization. So you're my manager Carley. And so, using this framework to develop and advance in my career to VP, I would come and say, Carley, I want to advance to being a VP, I'm really focused on developing and refining my communication. When we're in meetings together, can you please let me know, if you hear the bottom line, or the central point or my opinion, within the first five minutes of that presentation? Then what you would do, is after the presentation is that, Carson, I heard your central point, I was like, 12 minutes in? Great. So you didn't do it in the first five. And it's very clear, and it's also very narrowly defined. And so it allows me to focus on developing one skill set at a time, without good or bad or great, because that's not feedback. I can't replicate it. And I know that it's going to be behavior that is observed. Carley Hauck 18:19 Wonderful. Well, and for a lot of people, you know, even though we want feedback, it's hard for us not to take it personally sometimes. And what I love about this framework is that it keeps it focused on the actions, you know, it's you didn't do anything wrong. It's just that you still have refinement to do on this particular action. Right. So it pulls the shame right out of there. Carson Tate 18:48 Absolutely. Yes. And when you focus on asking your manager for feedback, some of our clients don't want to feel this way and struggle to ask for feedback. But when we connect it to performance, and we connect it to career advancement, I'll also think it takes a little bit less of the anxiety out of it. And then when you are this specific, it is about behavior and actions. I didn't do it or not. And then you're giving me the feedback of what did or did not occur. So I can adjust in my next presentation. Carley Hauck 19:23 Let's take a body break. Notice your feet connected to the floor. Notice your body standing or sitting. So just take a few minutes, I'd like to lead you through an awareness practice around trust. Take a deep breath in. Deep breath out to any movement and the shaking and the sounding to release tension. Just bringing your awareness into the present moment. When I am invited to work with teams or senior level leaders and companies, one of the first things that I'm assessing for is the level of trust and psychological safety. Trust is the essential ingredient and foundation for all relationships, but also for all businesses to thrive. Because business is all about relationships. And without trust, you can't build anything that will succeed for the long term. And any kind of organizational change will be seriously challenged if you don't have a foundation of psychological safety and trust. So what is trust? Well, organizational scholars define trust as our willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of others, because we believe that they have good intentions and will behave well towards us. In other words, we let others have power over us because we don't think they'll hurt us, we think they'll help us and have our backs. And when trust levels high within coworker relationships, it corresponds to trusting the company that employs us. And we feel confident and want to save us or abuse its relationship with us. It has our backs. But then why are so many people leaving the US workforce? It all comes down to trust. But how do we trust? And in order to trust someone, especially someone who was unfamiliar to us, or someone that has deceived us? There's a lot going on under the surface, there's likely thoughts on both sides such as should I trust you? How much do you trust me? Why should I trust you? Some of us are innately trusting, naturally seeking positive intent and putting the we before the me. But in my experience, trust is earned. It is not wise to trust someone blindly until you have vetted that they are in fact trustworthy. And just like everything else in life, it starts with the inner game. So I'd love to invite you to just reflect on a couple of these questions. This is about building trust with yourself. And the more that you trust yourself, the more you'll be able to trust others, and develop social contracts and agreements for trust. What assignment can you follow through on today that will support you in increasing your trust in yourself? Next, identify someone in your life at work or at home who has violated your trust. After expressing your fears and concerns to this person, negotiate a task or request that he, she or they can do to rebuild trust with you. Next, invite an open conversation with someone in your life at work or at home, whose trust you have violated. What happened? Did you break an agreement or break a boundary of theirs? After sharing your feelings of remorse and desire to repair, invite a new agreement that begins to restore the original broken agreement. So these three invitations as you can see, start from the shallow end to the deep end. And it starts on the inside. If you're interested in growing your inner game, upskilling your soft skills for conscious, inclusive leadership, my book and hardcopy or audiobook has lots of wonderful ways that you can do this. And in fact, the exercise I just shared with you is coming from chapter six, the Inner Game of Authenticity. If you're interested in learning how to create a foundation of psychological safety, building more trust through authenticity, so that you have the optimal performance for thriving, I would love to speak with you. You can book a free concert floatation. And we can talk about how we can develop training, or a large scale program to support greater psychological safety and supporting this virtual distributed, trusting team in these times. Now, going back to the second part of the interview, Carson and I will speak more to how to make any job, your dream job. Before we move into the Love It part, is there anything else you want folks to know about Own It? I mean, you have a lot of pieces in there. And I know we're doing broad strokes, because we don't have all day together. Although I wish. Carson Tate 25:56 The only thing I would say is that the thesis of the Own It section in the book is that you have an equal and powerful voice in the relationship with your employer. And part of this means you are co-creating a workplace and a job that's mutually beneficial for you and for them. Which means you need to know what you need. And then also to have the courage as you were coaching your leader, what can we find here that is working well for you? And the question, I'm sure she said, is how do we do more of it? And that puts some Own It on her. And then having the conversation with her manager of how do we create a job where I'm doing more of this work that is additive, allowing us to achieve our strategic goals driving revenue, that is also creating a more fulfilling workplace for myself? Carley Hauck 26:48 Well, and I think that's what's so interesting about this time right now, you know, I feel like in many ways, workers leaders were just, they were stuffing, what they really wanted, you know, what would really work for them? What would really allow them to bring their best what would allow them to shine, and now in this, I've had it done, I'm leaving, but that feedback was likely not shared before they left, or maybe it was in small ways, or maybe they just didn't feel like it was going to be heard. And so now as they're looking for the next role, the next company, I feel so curious about what's happening in these negotiations, right? You look at a job and it says 30% travel, or it says, you know, this, this, this and this. And now I think people are feeling empowered to say this is a negotiation, like if I'm going to put in a majority of my waking hours, my love, my innovation, my effort into this job into this team? How do I really make it work for me? Carson Tate 28:02 Yes, and I believe employers are recognizing that, to get all the richness that you and other folks always bring, it is a negotiation to create optimal conditions for people to thrive and for us to achieve goals 100%. And it's being willing to challenge some of the status quo and norms that are really not in alignment with performance that have been around since the Industrial Revolution. And you know, we have built knowledge base work off of industrial base manufacturing principles. We're not robots, we're human beings, not human doings. Carley Hauck 28:45 Totally. I say that all the time. Well, wonderful. Let's move it into Love It. And I also use love a lot in my world. And in my book, and so not a lot of us business folks use the word love but hey, if we're not loving our work, if we're not bringing love, then why would we want to work for that team? Or that leader? That company? Right? Carson Tate 29:10 That's my belief. Yes. Yes! Carley Hauck 29:17 So, in the Love It focus of the book, you start off in the very beginning of that section on strengths and weaknesses and skill development. And I love again, that you're focusing on upskilling because that is such a huge topic right now as we are trying to figure out what is going to support people to want to stay within their current organization, and what's attracting people to want to go to a different organization. And especially these younger workers, you know, Gen Z millennials. They're really craving mentorship, coaching. They want on-the-job skills training, they want to know that they're going to be able to be promoted, you know, and have greater opportunities. And so I'm gonna just focus on one behemoth, an amazing company called Amazon, because they're putting a ton of money towards upskilling. And I was, I was really fascinated to see that. So by 2025, they're committing $1.2 billion to provide free education, skills, training opportunities, to 300,000 of their employees in the US to help them secure new high growth jobs. And they're also investing hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people around the world with programs for the public. And you can actually find this on the regular Amazon site. I was looking at it last night, and I was pretty impressed with it. So they're just one company that says upskilling is important to us, we're gonna make sure that, you know, folks that are working for us have the skills to really develop and stay here and grow their careers. And so in your chapter, you talk about assessing your current skills. And you focus on three different distinctions of soft skills, hard skills, and then hybrid skills. And first, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I shared about upskilling. But I'd also love it if you could break down why you focused on those three parts of skills. Carson Tate 31:38 Well, I first did not know that about Amazon. And I'm so excited to hear their commitment, and their leadership around their commitment to their team members and upskilling. And it is absolutely necessary. I mean, I think we've seen during the pandemic, that there has been such a radical shift in how we work, that that requires a reimagination of our skills. So, AI, computing, we knew, and these have always been really needed skills, but I think that's been accelerated. And we also have jobs that are going away. But we have talented people in these roles who we need to help, I believe, adjust, learn and grow in new ways. I think that is part of the conscious community of us being of supporting our team members, it's so important. The reason I focused on soft, hard and hybrid skills, was to break it down for my readers and for our clients. So that they could take incremental steps is I think, when you think about upskilling, that word just what does that mean? Where do I start? I wanted to take the overwhelm out of professional development and growth and break it down into different steps. And depending on where you want to go in your career, there's more of an emphasis sometimes on different sets of these skills. So soft skills would be communication, it would be empathy, it would be emotional intelligence, it would be persuasion, these are skills that I believe are essential for all folks, versus hard skills, which I define as technical skills. So for example, can you put together an Excel model on a complex financial transaction, that's a technical skill, a technical skill could also be using your company CRM. So if you're a customer service representative, there's a customer there is a CRM tool, or there's some type of software that you are expected to use, that is a technical skill, and a hybrid is a combination of assault and a technical skill. And I think about an example here would be email communication. So do you have the soft skill of communication, written communication skills that are clear? And can you appropriately use the technology to make sure that that communication is received? That you're doing it seamlessly and not wasting a lot of time and energy in that platform? Carley Hauck 34:12 I feel really curious because I know, as a leader, I'm a learner. And I really value learning all the time and upskilling and my own growth and development. What have you chosen to upskill and learn and grow in the last year and a half? I mean, I would imagine you're always choosing things to grow. But I, I feel curious in just the navigating of so many things like all of us. Carson Tate 34:45 So where I'm really focused, my learning right now is on change. Because we're in the midst of massive change. Why people change, how you lead change, how you lead broad scale. It'll change, how you shorten the change curve, how you connect head and heart, how we really get into intrinsic motivators that are really driving this change. And the other piece that I'm really fascinated about is trust. Trust on teams, you're talking about psychological safety, which is an element of it. And how do we cultivate that in a hybrid workplace. Because the interactions on a screen are different than if you and I were sitting at a beautiful coffee shop in Asheville, North Carolina, it's very, very different. And I don't believe that the future of work is going to be that we're all in an office together all the time, moments, potentially, there are certain segments of the workforce where they will be working together. Our physicians, our teachers, manufacturing fulfillment centers, however, we're still gonna have to build trust, and how do we do that? Carley Hauck 36:02 Oh, I could totally go down this rabbit hole for a little bit. So I'm going to and then we'll and then we'll break through the book, which is the make it work. But I mean, that's fascinating to me as well, the trust component. And that's something that I take a lot of time, when I'm working with teams. And I think a part of it is vulnerability. But we have to have the psychological safety to feel like we can be vulnerable. What do you think about that? Carson Tate 36:36 I agree with you, 100%. Yeah, I mean, it is vulnerability. It is, you know, vulnerability's close cousin of authenticity. And there is an empathy component in here as well. But if I'm on a team, where I don't feel safe, sharing, maybe a personal experience that has informed how I think about this decision or this project, and I'm not willing to share, be vulnerable about this piece of who I am. I don't trust the trust isn't there. And so if you look at you know, the foundations of highly effective teams, trust me as the base of that pyramid, we can build that model. And so how do we do that? I'm, I'm intrigued. I do think it's vulnerability, psychological safety, how do you create those conditions? And quite frankly, how do we get out of our ego selves, where we're protecting, we're fearful, we're contracted, there's not enough that I can open, be open. It's safe, you're safe, I'm saying? Carley Hauck 37:50 Well, I would say not to plug my own book here. Carson Tate 38:00 But I think you should plug your own book! Carley Hauck 38:01 But, you know, I am brought in to teach a lot on building trust or authenticity. And I did a training for Capital One just a few weeks ago, and I was talking to Intel this morning about something they're needing as well. I mean, and I agree with you, because in this hybrid work environment, there are a lot of people that are going silent, or they're zoomed out, or they're, they're not actually bringing their voice into the space and their cameras, frankly, not even on for some of these meetings, or trainings. And we don't really know what's going on with them. And they might be slowly deciding to leave the workplace or work to, you know, leave the team. And so I feel like when we're cultivating this strong inner game of self awareness, emotional intelligence, resilience, which that growth mindset, well being love and authenticity, we're able to bring a more self regulated, aware response of loving, true person into the space, you know, where I can honor what's true for me, but also be aware of what might be happening for the other. So I think it's a lot of cultivation of the inner but then having agreements and social contracts that support us to be learning and growing together. Carson Tate 39:28 Absolutely. I mean, I think you can use really tactical things around agendas, working agreements, you can create clarity and certainty norms. You can have conversations about how we support each other's social and emotional needs, what are yours we're, what are mine and how do we do this collectively as a group. So there are some very tactical things that you can start to do to kind of scaffold within your team to create more and more psychological safety, more opportunities to cultivate trust and more opportunities for us to be vulnerable. Carley Hauck 39:58 Well, I'm that's actually where I wanted to go next is in the, you know, Make It Work section, you have this team audit process that I thought was so fabulous. Could you walk us through a little bit of that, because I think that supports greater trust. Carson Tate 40:15 So the golden rule is, we all know it, most of us know is to treat others the way that you want to be treated. And the platinum rule is a rule that I think works even better for us in our personal and professional relationships, because it invites us to treat others the way they want to be treated. So we're seeing others for who they are. So that's the first paradigm shift, can you start to get to know your team members around how they want to be communicated with and worked with? And so the way that we use our productivity style assessment tool is a way to audit the team and figure out their different work styles. So are you analytical or logical? Are you more organized and detailed or sequential? Are you more emotional, relational, kinesthetic, or intuitive, big picture and ideation. Each of these four work styles is a different way that they want to work with and interact with you. So for example, let's say team meeting. And as a leader, you aren't aware yet that your team is predominantly analytical and logical. And you have been starting all of your team zooms with chatting about personal things, and sharing Netflix recommendations, which connection is important. But for these analytical, logical, folks, the way they read that from you, as a leader, is not valuing their time, not getting to the point, not being focused on the outcome that you're disrespecting them and their time. You as a leader, maybe you're more relational motional kinesthetic, or looking at it is connection before content. I want to connect with my team, I'm building this trust and building this team. Very different experiences. Carley Hauck 42:06 And so if you are coaching one of these more analytical leaders, what would you encourage them to say, if they're getting really frustrated with the way that this agenda is happening for all these meetings that they're having to attend. Carson Tate 42:25 So I would invite them to have a one on one, ask their team leader for a quick connect afterward, and share with them that their work day, what works best for them is to be very focused and to know what the goal or the objective is for a meeting and to immediately start the meeting there. So that they can accomplish the meeting objectives in the most efficient way possible, and that they are very thoughtful and intentional about their time. And for them, their experience of what they would maybe say as chit chat is not efficient and feels like wasted time. And so detracts from their engagement in that meeting and their overall productivity for the day. Carley Hauck 43:08 That's fabulous. Thank you for that tip. Well, and then, if that leader who is actually hosting the meeting was really listening, I would encourage if I was that leader's coach to then actually get a maybe anonymous report, so to speak from everyone or even just have an open discussion of what's working for people about these meetings and what's not? And how do we audit it so that it works for everyone? Would that be something you might suggest? Carson Tate 43:46 Absolutely. And I think we have a very natural opportunity now to audit all of our team members, all our team meetings, know who we're working with, I think we have an opportunity to audit all of our collaboration systems and processes. So we're in the midst of another massive change. What better opportunity to say, Carley, you know, we haven't been in person for 18 months, we've been working in this remote way. We're now going hybrid. Would you be open to exploring what might really work for us in this new workplace? Tell me what worked for you, what didn't work for you, or now I know that there may be some changes in your personal life. And we need more of this and less of that. It's a natural opportunity for conversation. And I believe everything a leader should be on the table. Carley Hauck 44:33 Right? I agree. I would really love to be able to help facilitate conversations with teams that are speaking to this is what would have me stay and I'd be so excited to stay and contribute and bring this and bring that and this is what has me want to leave. I mean, if we could be that authentic. Carson Tate 45:01 Now we know. I mean So all change starts with awareness. I can't change when I'm not aware of. That is a foundational principle, we use it as coaches all the time. So how do we dial up that awareness, but if the leader knows that what is making me want to leave is a lack of what I perceive is career advancement and development. We now can work on that together. So maybe there isn't the next level position available. But maybe there's an opportunity for me to support you in getting on a company wide committee, maybe we can look at sponsorship and mentorship in a new and different way for you. But once I know as a leader and I've expressed it and owning it as a team member, we can start to affect positive change. Carley Hauck 45:49 And what would you say to a client that is sharing what they want, and there's no room for change. There's no budging of the senior leadership or that person's direct supervisor. Carson Tate 46:08 So the first thing I'm going to ask is, do you know this for sure? So do we have, do you have data? Have you or can you tell me about the conversations that you've had? What has been said, what has not been done? So first, I want to make sure that we are not telling ourselves a story that we actively have taken steps to ask for a mentor, or ask to be nominated for a committee or asked to do more of this type of work, where I shine. And when you're met with resistance, then you can go around. So is there another leader in the organization who might afford you an opportunity to leverage his strength, serve as a mentor, introduce you to a person to cultivate a relationship with so we can go around? Is there an opportunity within the organization to develop some skills and some relationships that are not being met, if with your manager and your team? Or is this just completely intractable, nothing is going to change, you don't see any other avenues around, then it might be the time to think about leaving this team, this division for a new division in your organization, or time to leave the organization. But I would challenge anyone to make sure you're very clear on what your engagement and fulfillment needs are, what your boundaries are, what your values are, how you define meaning and purpose and work before you go to look for that new job. Because wherever you go, there you are, if you haven't done the work on yourself, and you aren't clear on how you contributed to that situation, because as much as we don't want to say it sometimes, in that situation, you have been a participant, you have a piece of the action. So let's get really clear on what it was. So that we can create a different experience and a different future in that new workplace. Carley Hauck 48:11 I love that. Yeah, the radical responsibility, but then also getting really clear on what it is that you need and want. I appreciated you sharing boundaries, because I think that, at least in my own experience, and in my own work, and I'm sure you've struggled navigating it as well, we don't have the same boundary between work and home anymore. They, I mean, they've always been integrated. But now more so than ever, we're not leaving our homes. And as you said, you know, we might be going back into the office a couple of days a week, and we may not some, you know, some companies, it's indefinite. They're not going back today. And so how do we really create those boundaries between work and home, especially if our company and our team are not showcasing healthy boundaries between work and home? Do you have any thoughts around that? Because I, it's definitely something I've been exploring. I've been talking to teams and clients with. Carson Tate 49:15 The first place when we are working with teams because it is coming up more now than it ever has, is to invite a conversation. So as a team, and again, use this time, our company has just announced that we will be staying. Our team is going to be a fully remote team. That's a change. So this again, is this natural opening for us collectively as a team to talk about what does that mean, and what are the working agreements. So I challenge teams to talk about what is your standard email response time? I don't want the assumption. I want the stated implicit expectation of email response time. What is the last hour of the day that we will have a meeting? What is the earliest hour that we will have a meeting, taking into account if we have global colleagues. Some of us are caring for elderly parents, some of us are doing childcare responsibilities in the morning in the afternoon. How do we want to conduct our team meetings? Are we going to record them? So asynchronous work is possible? What are we going to do in terms of preparation? How are we going to honor if there is an emergency and I need Carley to respond right away? What constitutes an emergency? And what communication channels will we use for that, so that the 9:30 pm email or text is not that the unspoken rule is that you have to respond. That it could be that a team member was doing some work in the evening, because they needed the time during the day to care for something else. And for them, this is just their time. But there are no expectations that you respond, because these are no response times. And this is our workday. Carley Hauck 51:02 Those are wonderful suggestions. So for those of you that are listening, Carson has this fabulous book Own It, Love It, Make It Work: How to Make Any Job Your Dream Job. She also has a workbook. And so a lot of these tips and practices we're talking about are in the book, and you can work through them to really own what's going to work for you. Carson, what else would you like to leave folks as far as how they can get in touch. Carson Tate 51:30 So that book is available Own It, Love It, Make It Work on Amazon, all of your outlets where you'd like to buy your book, if you'd like to listen if you love to listen, all of it's available on all the audiobook channels as well. Website workingsimply.com, we do have lots of additional tools and resources and tips and strategies free there on the website for you. And if you're on social media, The Carson Tate on LinkedIn and again, lots of articles and free content there as well. Carley Hauck 52:01 Wonderful. Again, thank you so much. This was really delightful, and always a pleasure. Carson Tate 52:10 Likewise, thank you so much. Carley Hauck 52:12 Thank you Carson for your time, and your light, and friendship. I appreciate the leadership that you're bringing in this pivotal time to folks and companies. If you want to connect more with Carson and tap into some of her amazing offerings, the links are in the show notes. If you enjoy this episode or other SHINE podcast episodes, this is number 50, can't believe we hit 50, I would love for you to share it with friends, family, colleagues or on your favorite social media channel. The more light we can spread amidst the murky waters we're all navigating the better. If you have any questions, comments for topics you would like me to address on the podcast. Please email me at support@carleyhauck.com I would love to hear from you. Thank you for being part of this community for tuning in. And I have several wonderful episodes throughout the end of the year. So keep coming back. And until we meet again. Be the light and shine the light my friend.

Emotional Awareness at Work with Karla McLaren

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2021 68:49

Today's interview is on emotional awareness at work. Do you identify with and accept the entire range of emotions that you experience? Do you feel that you can bring your whole self to work because it is an environment that supports and honors all emotions, or do you feel that you have to hide your emotions? I'm privileged to be joined by Karla McLaren, an award winning author, social science researcher, and pioneering educator whose empathic approach to emotions revalues, even the most negative emotions and opens startling new pathways into self awareness, effective communication and healthy empathy. In this podcast, we will explore different ways to name our emotions with the vocabulary of an embodied experience so that we can grow our self awareness, develop greater self regulation, navigate triggers with skill and have more relationship mastery. We also discuss how to design for empathy and emotional intelligence at work with different questions, strategies and tips. Together Karla and I speak to the powerful practice of developing social contracts that empower trust, psychological safety so that people can really speak the truth even if it destabilizes processes or structures that frankly, should just be let go. There's so much good stuff in this interview. Thank you for joining us! SHINE Links: Meditation Exercises Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Book Carley for speaking Sign up for the Podcast! Carley on LinkedIn Karla McLaren Resources mentioned in this episode: Emotional Vocabulary List Empathy Quiz The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 0:01 Hi, thank you for joining the SHINE podcast. I'm your host Carley Hauck. This podcast is the beginning of season five. And it is all about the intersection of three things: conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. If you are just joining the SHINE podcast, please go to your favorite podcast application and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any fantastic episodes. I would also love to encourage you to write a positive review. If you enjoy this podcast or any of the other SHINE podcasts, it helps so much and spreads the light and brings wonderful people to this community. Today's interview is on emotional awareness at work. And I have the privilege to have this incredible conversation with a mentor and a teacher that has been in my life for over 10 years, Karla McLaren. And before I go into a little bit about Karla, I wanted to introduce the interview. And in this podcast today, we are going to be talking about different ways to name our emotions with vocabulary with embodied experience so that we can grow our self awareness, develop greater self regulation, navigate triggers with skill and have more relationship mastery. We're also going to talk about how do we design for empathy and emotional intelligence at work with different questions and strategies and tips will also speak to powerful practice of developing social contracts that empower trust, psychological safety so that people can really speak the truth even if it destabilizes processes or structures that frankly, should just be let go. There's so much good stuff in this interview. Karla McLaren is an award winning author, social science researcher, and pioneering educator whose empathic approach to emotions revalues, even the most negative emotions and open startling new pathways into self awareness, effective communication and healthy empathy. She is the author of four books, and I believe a workbook and I'm not going to read all of the books aloud but you can definitely go to her website and check them all out. She is an amazing resource that I'm so excited to introduce you to. The Art of Empathy, A Complete Guide to Life's Most Essential Skill that came out in 2013, The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You came out in 2010. That was my first introduction to Karla and her latest book, The Power of Emotions at Work: Accessing the Vital Intelligence in Your Workplace. Karla has also developed the groundbreaking six essential aspects of empathy model that highlights all the processes in healthy empathy, and makes them easily understandable, accessible and attainable. Karla is so wonderful to have you on the SHINE podcast, I discovered your work and the book the language of emotions. About 10-12 years ago, I was attending these community Enneagram panels in Marin County. And I was often one of the youngest people in the room. And in those days, I tend to be attracted to wisdom. And so I've always found myself among elders. And someone talked about this book. And I think it had only come out maybe a year or two before and I knew that I was a very emotional being and didn't quite know how to navigate those emotions and didn't really have language for it. So I went and got your book. And it had a huge positive impact on me. Because I started to really turn towards my emotions, really notice what was happening in my physical body and began to ask myself questions and my emotions questions. And it really enabled me to develop better boundaries, to understand my own empathy skills and emotional sensitivities. And that has really evolved in my work and in my personal life. And I bring a lot of that exploration into my own book, Shine. And that is a big part of chapter two of my book, which is the inner game of emotional intelligence. And so your new book, The Power of Emotions at Work, has come out a couple months ago, and we have the same publisher, Sounds True. And you have I believe, published four books with Sounds True. And I listened to your recent interview with Tammy Simon, the founder of Sounds True on your new book, on the popular podcast Insights From the Edge where Tammy is typically interviewing Sounds True authors and their new books. And I loved this interview of yours. And I was so excited to support you in this next book, and to have you on the podcast. So thank you, for your deep contribution, your genius really around the realms of emotion and empathy, for shining your light in the way that you are. I am grateful and delighted to have you here. Karla McLaren 6:30 Thank you. Thanks. Carley Hauck 6:33 So this podcast is on the intersection of three things: conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. And so one of the questions that I love asking my guests is What does conscious inclusive leadership mean to you? Karla McLaren 6:51 In my own work as a leader, for me, it is make maintaining an emotionally well regulated social structure around me because as leaders find out, leadership will challenge every part of you, every terrible way that your family taught you how to do emotions, every ridiculous idea you have about your own success, every every piece of you, that is not right on track, leadership will kick you right in that thing. If you do not have an emotionally well regulated social structure around you, then it is very easy to become kind of a rigid and concrete excuse for all of your personal failures. And if you have an emotionally well regulated social structure, then there is going to be the room for you to say, oh my gosh, I suck. I suck so hard right now. So let me dial this back and figure out what I'm doing. And I apologize and Lord, that was bad. Right? To for me, leadership means leading with people, never never been over people. So I'm very, very anti capitalist, very anti hierarchy. Because both of those things tend to treat people as things and as puzzle pieces or as tools, rather than as living breathing souls. So for me, there is no, you know, work life schism. My work is my life, and my life is my work. And so I don't want to be in any situation where there is a danger of me becoming less of a whole being and more of a leader. And I'm going to put finger quotes around leader. Carley Hauck 8:52 Wonderful, thank you. Well, I loved some of the things that you said, you know, leading with not leaving over and what you were talking about is bringing, bringing your whole self you know, to your life and there's no compartmentalizing that at work, or in your regular life. And I also feel very aligned with that, and, and we can't, you know, not bring our whole selves with us, it comes up no matter what. And so, thank you for that. One of the perspectives that I really loved when I was listening to the interview that you did with Tammy on the Insights From the Edge podcast, where she's, you know, promoting her new authors and books or old authors, and in this case, not that you're old, but you've you've had a couple books with Sounds True. A lot with them. Yeah. You, you. I just felt like that interview was so fiery and you went into places that I feel most people don't have the courage to speak to and so because I know but you're comfortable on the deep waters, I thought I might just go there, are you with that? Karla McLaren 10:05 Let's do it. Carley Hauck 10:06 Okay! So you shared in that interview that you've been thinking a lot about the so-called negative emotions and positive emotions. And you've shared that the so-called negative emotions are typically dismissed or we push them away, because they shake up the status quo. And the so called positive emotions go along, and then you went into the deep waters a bit and said, and a capitalist, sexist, racist, ableist, transphobic, homophobic world, these negative emotions would stand up and say, this is some shit, and we need to change it. And we need to change it every day. It's not okay. It's not okay. It's not okay. And when I heard you say that, Karla, I got goosebumps. And I was just so standing up in my seat saying hallelujah! Yeah, 100%. So I'm gonna let you take it from there. Karla McLaren 11:10 There's so many, there's so many avenues to go down. But I think one of the most important ways to begin to access your emotions in a functional way, is to understand that there is no such thing as a negative emotion. And there is no such thing as a positive emotion. Because if you believe that, you're going to avoid the so-called negative ones, and you're going to overuse and even abuse the so-called positive ones. In the workplace. This is really important, because almost every workplace book that talks about, you know, how to work with emotions in the workplace, is basically how do we make everybody feel happy, happy, happy, happy. And happiness is being used as a kind of a drug. And, oh, I'm remembering what book was it? What book was it Brave New World, Soma, there's a drug called Soma that makes everybody happy. And it's a way for a pretty evil cabal to take over because everyone is asleep in their happiness, right? So they can't feel their anger, which would tell them that their boundaries have been crossed, they can't feel their fear, which is their instincts and intuition. You can't feel their jealousy, which tells them about love and loyalty, they can't feel their envy, and on and on and on. If people want us just to feel the happiness emotions, I have now realized that we are looking at social control. And so now I've like, okay, social control is definitely occurring here. Now, what is the purpose of this social control? Right? So it means that I pretty much can't go anywhere, with any. Like, Carly, you can't come to this party, this party is about happiness. Carley Hauck 13:00 Right? Well, and, and what's been so interesting, in my own experience, being someone that feels deeply and always has there been times in my life, when I definitely suppress that and push that away, because, for example, my mother and father expressed so much emotion in our house, that there really wasn't room for me or my sister to express ours. And so I would just kind of put it to the side or hide it. And then eventually, I couldn't do that anymore when I became a teenager, and my hormones really, you know, kicked in, and I felt my rage, and I felt my sadness and, and I expressed it, but I've noticed in my own life, that if people don't feel comfortable, and we'll, we'll go here in this conversation, really turning towards all their emotions, all of them, you know, not compartmentalizing them into negative or positive that it's very challenging for them to be with the emotions of others, and maybe some of the more we call them, or label them as society does more difficult emotions. What do you think about that? Karla McLaren 14:15 Yes, I agree. And also because empathy is first and foremost, an emotional skill, if people don't develop a full range of emotional skills and awareness, then their empathy will always be sort of a half assed empathy, if that. There are three positive emotions. There are 14 so-called negative ones. So you end up working with about 17.6% of emotions and if you remember being graded in school, 50% is an F. So if we believe in positive and negative emotions, for getting an F, in emotions and an empathy. Carley Hauck 15:00 Can you share what those three positive ones are for the audience? Karla McLaren 15:05 The poor, beleaguered, abused so-called positive emotions, are happiness, which looks to the future and tells you when something is fun or hopeful. The second is contentment, which is an emotion that turns toward you, when you've done something that meets with your own approval, and joy, which is an emotion that opens you up and sort of drops your boundaries, and helps you kind of, I guess, upload an experience of bliss. And there's a lot of danger in joy, but people don't really talk about it. They think joy is the only emotion to feel. And so these three emotions are very specific jobs, they come up for very specific reasons. And they should never be trapped or laid over the top of other emotions, but they almost always are in our, in our positive and negative emotion culture. Carley Hauck 16:10 And it was so interesting to watch, you know, last year with the murders of George Floyd and so many other black and brown brothers and sisters of ours, and the uprising of rage that came through and the protests. And again, I was in celebration of that, because I feel like if we were more in touch with our rage, our grief, or fear, we would be making the changes to the structures and systems that are causing hurt and harm in our workplaces, in our worlds. Karla McLaren 16:50 Yeah, and notice the backlash that happened against those expressions of honest emotion, honest and necessary emotion. Right? It was sort of, you know, you shouldn't be so angry, you shouldn't be full of rage, you should, you know, wait until the system changes. Like that's not how systems change. Carley Hauck 17:16 Your very suffering then causes the systems to break or be hospiced. Well, and before the call in the recording started, you and I were talking about climate change, because you were saying, I'm grateful that there's rain today, and that we don't have a big fire. And I lived in Northern California for a very long time, too. And, you know, I feel like that's the next wave that's coming of people really understanding the gravity of our survival. And, and what the science is clearly saying, and we don't have a leader in the office anymore, who's denying this science. And there is some action and there is some change in structure. But I don't think that most people have really felt the grief and the rage and the fear around this. I know I have. I know I'm still feeling it. I know, there's layers of it. But I'm hopeful and inspired that the more we can turn towards those feelings, we will create the systems and changes to support this hot future that we are inheriting and that we have caused. What are your thoughts on that? Karla McLaren 18:40 I don't know. I don't know. I'm in a pretty philosophical place about the human race right now. The last four years made me go hmm, is this a species that deserves to survive? It's a question I've had for quite a while. I'm not exactly a misanthrope. But I'm just feeling that without access to our emotional functioning, we are sort of like toddlers with a handgun, in many cases, in terms of our capacity to understand and respond to the troubles that we cause. Carley Hauck 19:25 Thank you. Yeah. Well, one of the things I'm gonna move it a little bit. I could totally stay in this part of our conversation for a while, but I want to bring it into how we can encourage and inspire folks to access more of their emotions and their emotional intelligence and empathy at work. And I've been conducting trainings and bringing, you know, skills for empathy and emotional intelligence into all the work that I've been doing in the workplace for the last decade, and when I ask folks, What emotions do you not show at work and why? Most often I hear that they're grouped around what's acceptable for our gender norms, and what's not acceptable. And so for example, men, historically and our culture, and in many world cultures do not feel permission to feel fear, or, or sadness, they're, they're being, you know, labeled more as the weaker emotions, the more feminine emotions. And for, for women, it's anger. And we can see that when we push those emotions away, that that erupts into other actions. And so I believe that the Me Too movement, the huge domestic violence against women, against non binary folks, against other minorities from them, is coming, because they, they've had to suppress those parts of them. And it's coming out in actions, and women are hiding anger, and it's turning more into sadness. And that's because they don't want the backlash of being coined, a witch or a bitch or aggressive, and I feel curious, what do you hear about what emotions people hide? And why? And also open to any perspective, or, you know, via those gender measures? Karla McLaren 21:43 Yeah, the gender emotions are really interesting, because they cause so much trouble between the genders. And of course, I think agender people, they are not outside of this binary, that they are not outside of this binary, if they want to present as one gender or the other or neither. They are still sort of, sort of, well, I don't want to say trapped. But, but, you know, there's ways that by forbidding men to feel sadness and grief and forbidding them to show fear, we turn them into sort of, we turn them into rigid bodies, and by refusing to let women show or feel anger, we turn them into unnaturally softened bodies. So with men, we have unnaturally rigid bodies, and when we have unnaturally softened ones, and when these two bodies come together, there is usually conflict, because the unnaturally softened, one might look at the rigidity and say, you know, that is the wrong way to be, that is the wrong way, you can't be that way and then you know, the opposite would happen. So I think this, this gendering of emotion is one of the things that helps the the gender divide, maintain itself, so strongly so if a woman or you know, a female presenting person learns how to work with anger, she or they are, are, they are breaking their breaking through the violence of gender. And if a male presenting person learns to work with sadness, and fear and grief, then they're also in their own body, challenging the gender binary and the gender violence that occurs. And I think this is, you know, that's something you can do, you cannot fix, you know, however many centuries of, of the gender binary and the violence that goes with it, but you can fix it in your own emotional life. And in so doing free yourself and free anybody who is around you, right? It can free the people around you by going into the shadow of what, you know, a person with your gender expression is supposed to feel or not feel. And I like that because that's where my freedom is. You can tell me anything about emotions about what I'm not supposed to be doing. And on the outside, I can go Sure, sure, I wouldn't do that emotion on the inside I have all freedom in the world. Right? I feel what I feel regardless of what other people want me to feel. Carley Hauck 24:42 Thank you for that, in in the research that I was doing with my book, I really felt that a large role of consciousness inclusive leadership was enrolling men men identifying to be allies, to women to to marginalized communities to people of color, and I had lots and lots of conversations with men, and was really able to hear how hard it is to be a man at times in our culture. And you know, what they've been reinforced and the end the man box, so to speak, of what is acceptable to be a man and what is not. And it was really beautiful to hear their vulnerability and their fear and their sadness. And I am a really big proponent of people in general, again, just embracing all parts of themselves expressing and I, I feel hopeful, the transformation that's happening, and especially that's happening in the workplace, there are a lot more programs being developed and initiated for male allyship, Intel has a very large program, and I've developed a closer relationship with one of the champions and ambassadors of that program. Intel has 100,000 team members, you know, it's massive. So I, I share this because I feel inspired at the microcosm of change that can happen in the workplace that can then transcend into our greater world. Going into some of the wisdom that you have really developed and understood around emotions, could you share what the deeper wisdom behind rage, fear and grief are and I'm, I'm honing in on those three, because I feel that in this time of the pandemic, most people that maybe never had access those probably have, and I'd love to just normalize them a bit with your support. Karla McLaren 27:00 Each of these emotions is really necessary at all times. But also in times of trouble, I would like to see these three emotions out playing in times of trouble. Rage is an intensified form of anger. And probably there's a bit of panic in it. Panic is the emotion that helps us fight, flee, freeze or flock to safety. And so when you see anger that has fight in it, there's usually panic there and panic comes forward when we are endangered. So there's danger, please panic come and help us right. So rage is anger with a kind of a panic chaser. And it comes forward when, certainly when your boundaries have been crossed. Anger is about setting boundaries and identifying what you value. And protecting and restoring what you value. The power that comes with anger is very, very misunderstood. It comes forward to help you be vulnerable. Like to be vulnerable is a very empowering thing. But people don't sort of see it that way. They see it as a weakness. So anger comes to bring you the power and the strength you need to be vulnerable. When there's rage. Often, people are raging, not just on behalf of themselves, but on behalf of systemic inequalities and injustice. So there's that need to sort of step it up a bit. It is very difficult though, when panic is there for people to be able to be vulnerable within their rage. This is kind of next level, emotional skill, to feel that intensity of emotion, and to be able to speak clearly, without doing undue harm to others. We've mostly learned to use our anger as a weapon, which is what it never should have been and never should be. There are some times when you need to weaponize yourself, you need to tear into somebody you need to fight, but not as often as we do. So I'm not I'm not throwing violence into the shadows. There are times when you need to fight. But there are more times when you need to be vulnerable. And that's what anger brings to you. So welcome anger. Let me see if I can be strong enough to be vulnerable right now. That's kind of the work without emotion. Fear is our instincts and intuition. A lot of people mistake fear with anxiety and panic. But there are three different but connected emotions. Fear is about the present moment. It's your instincts and your intuition. It's your focus and your clarity. It's your ability to key into what's going on right now and it helps you identify change and novelty. If there's any danger, then panic needs to come because that's the life saving emotion. That's panic's job. But a lot of people when they say no fear, or the only thing to fear is fear itself. There's a lot of really nasty messaging around fear. But what people are talking about is panic. And they shouldn't say that about panic either. But they do. So the work for fear is to simply become aware of it. That's what it comes to help you do. So you just become aware of the present moment check in. Is there any change? Is there any novelty? Is there anything I need to pay attention to? And that's it. That's the work of fear. If you're good with fear, if you're, if you're very fear-resourced, you will be instinctual and intuitive. And you will be aware of your surroundings. That is a sign of being good with fear. Carley Hauck 31:00 And one of the questions I often ask fear, and I encourage other people to ask, and I don't know if I was influenced by you in this questions, I'm just going to own that. But it's super helpful for me to ask what's the worst thing that could happen? Because if I look at that squarely in the face, because sometimes the worst thing does happen. But most of the time, it doesn't. If I can face that, if I can turn towards everything that arises in the worst thing that can happen, then I can move into the next step, which is inspired action, which is like, what do I have control of right now? How do I respond? Karla McLaren 31:43 That would be more of an anxiety question, because it looks to the future. That fears about the present moment, if there's anything feeling like it's coming at you, or there's any kind of dread or danger out in the future panic will be there, but anxiety will too because its job is to prepare you for the future. So that's like a really good anxiety. question is what's the worst that could happen? And then you prepare for the possible worst, right? Carley Hauck 32:14 Yeah, yeah. So then for fear, would you ask, What are you scared of right now? Karla McLaren 32:18 No, because scared implies danger. And that would be panic. So fear is you simply pay attention in the present moment, the question that I have for fears, what action should be taken? And sometimes the answer is nothing. Everything's fine. Carley Hauck 32:41 Thank you. I'd like to take a moment to give you a practice around emotional awareness. We're gonna take just a few minutes, and then we'll come back to the second part of this fantastic interview. So bring your attention inside. By closing your eyes by shifting your gaze downward. Don't do this while you're driving. And slow down. Feel your feet, your hands simply by wiggling your fingers, your toes. start to notice the rhythm of your breath as you breathe in and out. Breathing in through the belly. Noticing the rise and fall on the inhale on the exhale. Take some deep breaths, make some sounds as you breathe in. As you breathe out. Do any movement that would help you come more fully into this experience into this moment into your body. See if you can imagine that the energy from your head is starting to move down into your belly into your pelvis are moving more and more into our bodies and out of the thinking, doing and rather being aspect of ourselves. Doing a scan from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. Simply notice where your body is feeling the most energy. is it in the head? Is it in the hands? Is it in the chest? Is it in the belly? For me there's a lot of energy in my head. Been very much in work and thinking mode today. And I've had a little bit too much caffeine to power through. That's what I'm noticing right now. What are you noticing in the body? Where is your body holding the most energy? And what does that energy? Feel like? What are the qualities? Is it restless? Is it heavy? Is it soft? Is it agitated, everything is welcome. The more that we can turn towards our bodies in our experience, our bodies can settle and have a different experience. Because all of our emotions are held in our physical body. Now notice, if there are any feelings present. It could be one of a dominant feelings. There could be many feelings. What are you noticing in this one part of the body that we're focusing on because it has more sensation, more dominance than maybe other parts of your physical body? We're just being curious what's here? For me, I noticed there's some sadness. What is present for you? And just staying with the body, staying with the feelings, not needing to create a story or change it or fix it. Just being here. And then asking this part of the body? How can I support you best right now? How can I support you best. And really listening to that wisdom. Maybe it's a kind word, an action that you can give towards yourself, maybe it's a placing of a loving touch on that part of the body. So for myself right now I'm placing my right hand on my forehead and just offering some care. Now moving into my heart and noticing that self care that self love. Seeing what would feel most comforting and supportive to you. And then bringing your awareness back to your breath back to your body. Just noticing how you feel right now. This is a very small exercise that we can do to grow our inner game of emotional intelligence. You're becoming self aware of emotions, physical sensations, you're regulating your nervous system by slowing down your heart rate, your blood pressure, your breathing. You're investigating your needs because every feeling has a need. Just imagining what it would be like if you gave yourself more time throughout the day to do this practice, how might it benefit you? So, if you're interested in growing this inner game of emotional awareness, empathy and intelligence, which I would highly recommend, it will support you to be a conscious inclusive leader at work. It will allow you to excel in your personal relationships with deeper intimacy and connection, I have a few resources to support you in this. There are 15 free meditations on my resources page of my website. The link will be in the show notes that you can listen to. similar to this meditation but tailored to different emotions and different experiences. You can also get my new book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. It's available in hardcopy or audiobook. And I would love to speak with you on this topic or others, and see how I could develop a specific training for your organization, team or leadership. I am currently working with Capital One, which I love. And I'm doing a lot around this particular topic with their leadership team and their organization. The links for booking time with me will be in the show notes. And Karla also has many incredible resources. So back to the show. Carley Hauck 40:58 And then grief, tell me more about the wisdom of grief. Karla McLaren 41:04 Grief is a beautiful emotion that arises at a death, either of a person or an idea or relationship, the death of your previous lifestyle, the death of health, right if you move into an illness, and grief is the emotion that helps you make those profound transitions. We are a grief impaired culture here in white, Northern America, white European, Northern America, I would say that there is a good grief tradition in Judaism. And many people of color, especially African Americans, and people from Mexico have beautiful grief transitions. But for most Europeans, the grief traditions are gone. And so we don't know how to make those profound transitions. And we also confuse grief with the other members of the sadness, family sadness, and depression. So we don't kind of know grief, but our bodies do. And that's something that's always made me feel really, really happy, that even though culturally, we've been separated from the traditions of grieving, our bodies know how to grieve, they do and I give grief rituals, and people are like, I don't know what I'm doing. But as soon as we move into the ritual, they totally know what they're doing. They totally know. So bodies know grief and, and connecting with your body is one of the key ways to support your grief. And the question for grief is what must be mourned, and what must be released to completely. Carley Hauck 42:54 love that what must be mourned and what must be released completely. And there's so much to grieve, right now, in our world, there's so much to let go, and release and more. So that we can create the new build the new. So I want to move into the increased awareness of mental health, I feel like mental health was always present in the workplace. It's always been there. But it's becoming talked about more and more and more, which is fabulous, because then hopefully we can create some changes and give people the support that they need. And part of that has arisen more in the midst of the pandemic because of the social isolation, the increased complexity and challenge and, you know, layoffs mean so many things being quarantined. And it was very easy to find research on this. But I basically looked into two articles earlier today. And this was an article that was looking at the impact of COVID on suicidal ideation. And it said that COVID-19 crisis, increased suicide rates during and likely will after the pandemic. And it was something that I thought was really interesting, because I know that you have spoken about suicidal urges. And I don't think that's something that is talked about very often and the wisdom behind suicidal urges, would you be willing to speak to that? Karla McLaren 44:38 Yeah, and I was thinking in my book, I talk about the mental health effects of the workplace, and they're pretty grim. The workplace is a pretty emotionally and empathically abusive place because specifically because emotions were kicked out of the workplace at the turn of the Industrial Revolution, and you can't kick emotions out, you can only suppress them and make an emotionally unhealthy environment. And I think there was a very large research study on like 17,000 workers in the US. And the numbers that came out of it were just sort of horrifying in that eight out of 10 workers said that they were struggling at home because of the social and emotional trouble at work. So we spend most of our lives in an emotionally troubling or even abusive environment. And when the pandemic came along, and maybe people then realized, oh, their home lives aren't that healthy either. And there was all the fear that people don't know how to work with the anxiety, they don't know how to work with the sadness, grief and depression, they don't know how to work with the panic. So for a lot of people, a lot of emotions came up and it just became overwhelming. And the emotion that arises when things are, you know, when the shit has hit the fan, and everything is just not workable. The suicidal urge will arise and say, This can't go on. I call it the darkness before dawn. Because it is a time to look around yourself with you know, this very clear eyed, realistic view, to say, the difference between who I am in my heart of hearts, and what I have become in this world of expediency and meaninglessness is so extreme that it's already like a death. And the suicidal urge arises to sort of mark that moment. And the question for the suicidal urge is what behavior or situation must end now, and what can no longer be tolerated in my soul? In dynamic emotional integration, which is my work, the rule for the suicidal urge is that the human body that I'm living in is off the table. It's off the table, we can always die, but right now let's look and see what it is the suicidal urges pointing to. And as you've seen, if people don't have that framework, then they simply think that it is their body that needs to die, that they need to die. But it can be one of the most powerful moments of evolution that a person could ever experience when their own emotions say, No, this is no I refuse to live this way. Give me liberty or give me death. And you know, the way that we work with suicidal urges like take liberty death will come anyway. Like, it's like death and taxes are going to happen. So let's live this life. And you know, take the power of this emotion and let's go. Let's go kill something that needs to get killed. Like, you know, this situation or this ridiculous job or this unhappy life that I'm living in. How the hell did I get here? Carley Hauck 48:17 Or the fossil fuel industry. Karla McLaren 48:18 Yeah, let's go kill that real good. Let's blow it up. Yeah, yeah. And there really isn't any.... What I'm noticing is and I'm gonna swear but I've been having this thing in my mind a book called a form of violence that's not fucked up. Because the violence that we see over and over again is fucked up violence that is meant to hurt or kill others but we don't see that kind of sacred violence of killing that which needs to be killed and ending that which needs to be ended and being in you know, intense conflict over something and not having everybody go let's just agree to disagree. No, let's have conflict, let's go right. So it's something that is just in the back of my mind, how do we create healthy violence? Carley Hauck 49:12 I believe conflict is essential in relationship. It's just part of relationship and with healthy boundaries with self awareness, with empathy, with emotional intelligence, with care, it can be very healthy, it can bring us closer, it can create more innovation and intimacy. Karla McLaren 49:33 Yeah, yeah. But you know, you have to go through the shit, like you have to be willing to. And sometimes my husband and I are, you know, I'm like, let's do it dude, bro. Let's go, let's go outside. Let's do it. Carley Hauck 49:45 You yourself have faced suicidal ideation based on your own childhood and really being you know, with those parts of yourself and being able to really understand and navigate it from that place. Is there anything else you want to add to that? Karla McLaren 50:08 I, you know, sometimes people ask me, Well, how did you go from being a person who survived? You know, pretty extreme dissociative childhood trauma and homelessness and abuse and, you know, tremendous mental illness and poverty and all that kind of stuff. How did you get from there to here? And I was like, suicidal urge, man. That's what that's what brought me out. Because it continually was my, my North Star, it would continually tell me this is not it. This is Oh, hell, no, this is not it. This is not your life. This is not it. And I was so fortunate that I learned to listen to it, and work with it. And yeah, yeah. To say you're right. This is not it. Carley Hauck 51:08 Thank you for sharing that. And, you know, just to step in this ring with you. On Monday of this week, I had a really hard day, Karla, I was really, really hard. I cried most of the day. And I noticed in myself, that I really wanted to stop crying, like there were parts of myself that I kind of wanted to just push away, I wanted to abandon. And so I noticed for myself, when I've had suicidal ideation and urges in my life, it's because I'm, I'm abandoning parts of myself in that moment. And I'm not allowing myself to feel them. But when I can turn towards and then get to the deeper wisdom of this has to die, this has to stop, this is not working. And that's where I got to, by the end of the day, I have some bigger changes I'm going to be making very soon. So freeing, there's so much clarity and ease, and then, you know, action that I can gather around that decision and that wisdom. So anyway, just speak to listeners, that I myself have gone through that and continue to go through it. And that's been my experience of what I notice. In that. Karla McLaren 52:35 Yeah, like no, I also want to say that once you get once you befriend your emotions, and you become, you know, pals with them, and you communicate with each other, they don't have to come up in a full scale, like you don't have to go to rage. You can go to slight tiny peevishness, and you'll be like, Oh, no, you know, you could become more sensitive and empathic with your own emotions. But there is a soft, suicidal urge that I have now identified as what I call the dead flat no. Which is when someone says, Hey, Karla, can you do a whole bunch of work for me? Because I have a party later? For free? No, actually, no, I cannot do that at all. And this no is very different from the relational no of anger. Anger always has relational pieces in it, you can't be angry about something that's not important to you. So whenever there's anger, it means there's importance here, there's value here. And the no of anger would be. No, I can't do that today. But I can help you blah, blah, tomorrow, right? Or whatever if this person is worth keeping, but the person that I set up in that earlier story wasn't worth keeping. That person's like, Nope, I'm not in a relationship with you, pal. No. Carley Hauck 54:01 Okay, so I'm going to take this back into the workplace. One of the things that I have been feeling really inspired by now that we have this virtual world of work, it is worldwide. And we have an opportunity to kill the structures and systems that in the workplace that are not supporting as you share in your book, emotionally well regulated structures that actually support empathy and all emotions and us to bring our whole selves. And so when we think about designing for empathy and emotional intelligence, what do you think are some of the questions we can be asking leaders and teams? You have some really, you know, wonderful questions in your book such as, what environments do you experience as most nourishing? Emotional work? And what environments do you experience the most draining emotional work? And what are the differences between nourishing and draining environments? Those are definitely a start what? What other thoughts do you have about designing for empathy and all of our emotions to be welcomed at work? Karla McLaren 55:33 I think that I'm sort of starting from the ground up in helping everybody develop an emotional vocabularies, not only so they'll have better language with each other, but also because developing a better emotional vocabulary just all by itself gives you better emotion regulation skills. That is cool. That's a two for one. And I've got a free emotional vocabulary list on my website that we've gathered, so that people can know, you know, are they in soft anger, medium anger or intense anger? And then that can tell them? What does anger mean? And why did that emotion come up right now, another one is making sure that there is a process for mistakes and conflict, that there is that that mistakes are seen as normal and necessary ways to learn. And that, you know, it's not it's not a terror inducing thing to make a mistake in your, in your world. Because generally, people will be blamed or shunned, which will shut everybody down. Absolutely, everyone will see that happen. And it will shut down the entire community. And I think there was data saying that 85% of workers have not communicated really serious workplace issues upward because of this culture of we don't make mistakes, and we don't want anything negative to happen here. Another one is that there is an environment of trust, that it has to come from if it's a traditional kind of a hierarchy, which we would hope those go the way of the dodo. Because it's such a bad, hierarchies are so damaging to everybody from the top down. They're just awful situations, but that people must feel safe enough and supported enough to speak the truth, even if it might destabilize relationships or processes. So everybody should be able to have the red, you know, stop button that says we cannot go forward with this process, because I noticed this problem, and you see in most workplaces is if anybody had asked, at least two or three people would have been able to tell them about the problem that they found out six months later after they spent $40 million. Carley Hauck 58:04 Well, and that's the lack of psychological safety. Yeah, yeah. Right. And that's, that's been a big part of what I bring in as a foundation. Because if we don't have psychological safety, for the folks that are listening, and don't know what that actually means, it's the ability to share our feelings or needs or experiences or worldviews without the fear of reprimand, punishment, or, or judgment. And when that's not present, we actually can't feel comfortable sharing our emotions or our emotional sensitivities. Karla McLaren 58:48 Yeah. Yeah. And everybody knows that. Yeah, everybody, like they can just see someone get blamed for something. And it will just cast a pall, there will be a cold wind going through the social structure. And these things, these things have so much power. Doing doing things wrong, and making bad transitions is one of the things I see pretty much every workplace do, because transitions require emotions, sadness, grief, fear, anger, and if people don't know how to work with those emotions, their transitions are not going to be strong, they will be lumpy and cause a lot of backlash. Carley Hauck 59:29 And we're going through such a reorg in our workplace, but in our world. There are so many emotions that are coming up with all the changes in the transitions that you're sharing. And one of the things that I imagine you'll agree with, but I'm open to you disagreeing is social contracts are things that I bring in to support psychological safety, but I was really inspired in reading your book where you call it the nine aspects of emotionally well-regulated social structures and it's, it's actually social contracts that are that are similar and I'm, I actually would love to just read them if that's okay the nine because I find I think they're really helpful when we think about the designing of empathy and emotional intelligence and emotions at work. So, number one was emotions are spoken of openly and people have workable emotional vocabularies. Number two, mistakes and conflicts are addressed without avoidance, hostility or blaming. Number three, you can be honest about mistakes and conflicts without being blamed or Shun. That goes back to psychological safety. Number four, your emotions and sensitivities are noticed and respected. Wow, to live in a world where these were present and agreed upon I love it. Number five, you notice and respect the emotions and sensitivities of others. Yes. Number six, your emotional awareness skills are openly requested and respected. Number seven, you openly request and respect the emotional awareness and skills of others. Number eight, you and others feel safe enough and supported enough to speak the truth. Even if it might destabilize relationships or processes. Yes. And number nine, the social structure welcomes you, nourishes you and revitalizes you. I want that. I believe in that those are beautiful. Thank you. Karla McLaren 1:01:38 Thank you people like where does that happen? I'm like Emotional Dynamics, LLC, pal. We have so many fascinating people working here. I call us the Island of Misfit Toys. Because we have you know, we've hated work, we've hated work. And then we come here, and it's what work should have always been. Yeah. Carley Hauck 1:02:06 So just briefly, what are what are you offering through this particular you know, community of people to really structure revision? The workplace? Karla McLaren 1:02:19 What am I offering to my colleagues? Or what are we offering in the marketplace? Carley Hauck 1:02:26 What are you offering in the marketplace? Oh, support this new design of greater empathy and emotional intelligence and sensitivities at work? Karla McLaren 1:02:36 Yeah, the book. Well, the books, and we have dynamic emotional integration, we run a licensing program so that people can learn to do this work. And we also run Empathy Academy, which is a place where people can take online courses, it became very popular during the pandemic, because people are like, I'm trapped at home with my emotions, please give me a class. Yeah, and, and then we're also developing an online community where people can come and talk about emotions and develop their emotional skills and their vocabulary and have a place to laugh uproariously and and say things that are inappropriate. And I will laugh and laugh. Carley Hauck 1:03:27 Mm hmm. Wonderful. So, so needed. And so what I'd like to leave with all of these resources will be available in the show notes, folks, for those that want to learn how to take advantage of all the wisdom and these offerings that Karla has. But many of us listening know that in the midst of the pandemic, and I found this latest number that about 4 million folks have left the workplace since April 2020. And that is as a result of people seeking more meaning, purpose, better wages, flexibility, more caring teams, and leadership, and likely because they hadn't shared what they didn't enjoy or wasn't working for them. Like as, as you said earlier, Karla, most people are not sharing these complaints upward for this person. It's not safe, right? It's not safe. Exactly. So instead, they're leaving and trying to find something that's probably more humane, more caring. But if you're listening in you're a leader, or you're not a leader. I feel really curious about what would make you want to stay and what makes you want to leave? And I'd love to hear and Karla, do you have any other thoughts on that? Karla McLaren 1:04:50 It's a little bit off topic, but it sort of isn't. People talk a lot about workplace culture. And one of the experts of workplace culture, Edgar Schein, he's like the grandfather of workplace culture studies. And he says that, you know, people come in and want to change the culture, but the culture is a living, breathing thing. And any culture change should if it's done in a helpful way, take between five and 10 years, write the whole book, much people come in, like, we're gonna do culture change in six months, I'm like, No, you're not that, usually they say people don't quit their jobs, they quit their manager. But that puts a lot of pressure on managers, many of whom don't have the power, that they have a lot of responsibility, but no power, it's not a good position. And what people are really leaving is the culture. They're leaving a sick social structure. That is a lot like a sick family. And what I love about the great resignation, which is what they're calling it, as people are seeing it, and they're saying, I can choose otherwise, there's a little bit of a suicidal urge there. Right, I'm going to kill this relationship here. And I'm going to go on, and I believe in the future. You know, and maybe they'll find a slightly less sick culture in the next place, or call the Great reshuffle. I think they're interchangeable. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, and to begin to understand culture, to understand the way the social structures work, and that's what you know, the power of emotions at work does is help you understand the social structure and as, as you would term it, the psychological safety. But it's not just psychological, it's sociological, that there's, you know, an interrelated human structure happening here that is functional. And in most workplaces, sadly, that is not true. That is not true. It is a dysfunctional, emotionally unsupportive culture. So it'd be wonderful to see that change. And people are saying, I'd rather have no job than this one. Carley Hauck 1:07:04 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that is happening right now. Well, we are at the beginning stages of this change. And I so appreciate your wisdom, the work that you're doing, your offerings, we are in this together. And I look forward to just seeing how it all begins to evolve. And thank you again for your time today. Karla McLaren 1:07:38 Thank you. Carley Hauck 1:07:40 Wow, that was the highlight of my week. Karla, thank you so much for everything that you have learned and are sharing around these important topics with the world. We as a society and humanity need this more than ever right now. If you want to learn more about how you can access Karla's knowledge on these topics, the link for her website and her books is in the show notes. And as always, it is such a wonderful privilege to have you listening and in this community. There are lots of other fabulous podcast interviews, some definitely related to this topic that you can preview from past episodes. And if you're enjoying the podcast, please share it wildly with others. And as always, until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

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How to Calm Emotional Triggers At Work and In Life with Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2021 45:03

Welcome to season five of The Shine Podcast. This season is going to be focused on leaders and topics related to how we continue to move through the challenges and the complexity that we are all navigating in our workplaces, our home life and the greater world. In today's episode, I will share what I know about the science on triggers, why they are caused, and where they're coming from. I am going to offer you a few helpful practices on how to calm emotional triggers that you can use in your life and share with others. My goal is to help you learn how to cultivate a strong inner game that will enable you to navigate triggers skillfully. The inner game rules the outer game, and the six qualities of the inner game that I've identified and highlighted in my new book really support one to navigate triggers skillfully, create healthy boundaries, and then have the brave exchanges so that the patterns that cause the trigger are minimized, and/or maybe even uprooted. SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Book Carley for speaking Sign up for the Podcast! Carley on LinkedIn Resources mentioned in this episode: “How to Deal With Anger at Work” by Carley Hauck The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 0:01 Hi, my name is Carley Hauck. Welcome to another episode of the SHINE podcast. This is the first interview of season five, which will total out 2021. And for those of you that are just joining, I'd love to give you a little backstory on the SHINE podcast and how it came to be. It started in May 2019, where I was finally sharing lots of interviews that I had previously conducted with incredible leaders as part of the research for my new book, which I spent almost five years writing and debuted this year, February 23 2021, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World, my publisher is Sounds True. And I have been really delighted by the response of people to the book, but the podcast continues to go strong. And the podcast is really about the intersection of three things: conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. And I go into the science, the spiritual perspective, and then the actual application of this into your life. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our topic today, I'd love if you could go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button. And if you love this episode, or any previous episodes that you might want to tune into, if you could write a positive review, it helps so much. And it supports people to find this podcast. Thank you. This particular season is going to be focused on leaders and topics related to how we continue to move through the challenges and the complexity that we are all navigating in our workplaces, our home life and the greater world. We are in a spiritual and collective awakening, I am sure. And I hope that this podcast will be the light that will support you to shine your light. Our topic for today is how to calm emotional triggers at work and in life. And this is going to be by yours truly. Carley Hauck 3:10 Has this ever happened to you? Listen to some possibilities. You're at work. You had an experience where most of the day was off, maybe you woke up late. meetings were suddenly canceled, rescheduled but you were prepared. Other folks were expressing impatience, frustration, and communication processes were not easy. And you felt triggered. This might have happened at home. You could be navigating challenging children, you're working from home. They're at home too. Maybe you have a sick parent in your life, you're feeling under the weather yourself. Or perhaps you're navigating flash flooding, or smoking fires due to climate change. And it's throwing your inner calm and balance off. You feel triggered. What I'm speaking to is pretty normal. And especially in a highly complex and always changing workplace and world. We are all navigating so much right now. We have been and it's been highlighted in the last 18 or so months since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of our so-called freedoms have been taken away. We're still wearing masks in most public places. We've been more socially isolated than any other time. And as a result are being forced to be on technology more than ever to meet our social needs and to be high performing leaders at work or just folks at work. Being connected to screens and technology is not something that we should be on this many hours a day. Why? Because when we look at our hunter gatherer ancestors, they were living in community, living in deeper harmony with the land with their food systems. They were engaging in regular exercise, dance song, and expressive arts. Now we are a far cry from living like that. But our nervous systems aren't used to this much arousal. And what I mean by arousal is, when we are on our technology, our devices, these EMF that we're pretty much bombarded with all day long. Guess what it does to the body? It raises our blood pressure or heart rate, and therefore, our arousal, our nervous system response, and we may be perceiving things to be stressful when they actually are not. It is easier under the conditions we are living in to become more triggered, versus calm and responsive. Carley Hauck 6:21 And so in this episode, I will share what I know about the science on triggers, why they are caused, where they're coming from, and a few helpful practices that you can use in your life, and also share with others. I have been teaching and leading a certain practice around triggers for the last few years, and I have shared it with thousands of folks and leaders in reputable companies. It's also listed in chapter two of my book. And in fact, just about a week or so ago, I shared this particular practice on a training that I facilitated with leaders on increasing empathy and emotional intelligence with some amazing folks at Capital One. To tell you why I know a lot about triggers and why I developed this practice, I needed help with triggers. I needed help with my own triggers. And so this is where it began. I was dating a man, this was in 2017. We were in a relationship for a few months, and we were deepening into intimacy. And guess what, when intimacy happens, and the veils start to come down, you're going to trigger each other, there's going to be conflict, conflict is part of relationship, it's part of life. And if you're not having conflict in your relationships, then there's probably not a deeper connection. And conflict doesn't have to end the relationship. In fact, by having the relational skills to navigate it with care and wisdom, it can create more trust, more psychological safety, more intimacy, more connection, more collaboration, even more innovation. So back to this relationship experience, my partner was triggered. And he did and said some things that then created triggers in me. I am always up for staying in the midst of difficulty and staying in relationship and repairing. And, you know, trying to heal, that's just my orientation. I am a person that really values harmony. And it was a real struggle to do that in our relating. Because he would get triggered, he would go into avoidance, I would get triggered, and I would freeze. And then I wasn't able to do or say the things that would hopefully calm him down, calm myself down. And it was horrible to watch myself. And the relationship ended. And it was meant to end, we wouldn't have been good partners or people for each other. And I knew that shortly into the relationship but you know, it was only a few months you're figuring it out. Again, conflict is normal and it's normal at work, and it's definitely normal in dating. Conflicts and triggers will arise but it can actually be something that helps you to grow closer, if you have the skills like I'm going to share with you in this episode. Carley Hauck 10:09 So I developed this practice that I'm going to share with you in a couple minutes. Because I can only choose how I respond, I don't have control of the other. But in the moment that I feel scared, I feel triggered, I can choose how I want to respond if I have awareness and if I have the tools. And so shortly after I developed this practice, I wrote an article on this process. And the article is called “How to Deal With Anger at Work”. And it was with the digital magazine conscious company, which is now part of socap. In 2018, this was one of the top 20 articles read that year. I felt very proud of that and thought, wow, lots of people need help with triggers, so it felt really lovely to be able to be in service in that way. So what is a trigger? I've been saying this word a lot, a trigger is in current time, or a cue, or an event that re-stimulates sensations of the past trauma, it can be a word, it can be a verb. For example, a loud voice can be a trigger, a person's fear of being controlled or overpowered. That may have come from early childhood experiences. Additionally, another trigger could be a lack of response, you know, you reach out to someone, or you're trying to have a communication and there's no response. And that could actually create a trigger of abandonment or neglect, so to speak. And so in the midst of the pandemic, we are becoming more comfortable speaking about trauma, and you heard the definition that I spoke to it could be something that's happening in current time, a cue or an event that really stimulates sensations of the past trauma. So we are becoming more comfortable talking about trauma, talking about mental illness in the workplace, it has always been here. But due to the increased pressure, the social isolation I was talking about before, and the large challenges we were navigating at work and in the world. The symptoms that maybe we were suppressing, maybe we were covering with unhealthy coping mechanisms like alcohol or shopping, or who knows, that can only be pushed down so long before it starts to fester and come to the surface. Carley Hauck 13:02 And so I want to just preface that if you notice that you've been more triggered recently, in your life, this might be an important time to do some deeper inner work to go into, why is this happening more and more. Most of us have emotional healing to do. And that often affects what we are triggered by. And if we don't acknowledge what is causing the trigger, then those patterns continue and we won't be able to heal or navigate them with more skill. And I speak from experience here one I noticed myself, I've been more triggered recently, in the midst of the pandemic, I have been navigating some very uncertain and complex challenges, more so than normal. And I won't get into all of that. But just to just a preface. I am there with you if you're feeling this too. And prior to my work and leadership and organizational development consulting, I was going through a very rigorous training, thinking that I might want to be a full time therapist but I actually decided that I wanted to do coaching and consulting more and was already starting to do that. But along the way I I went through lots and lots of supervised hours. As a marriage and family therapist intern in the Bay Area of California I actually conducted over 3,000 supervised hours as I was learning how to be a therapist, but I was also working as a coach and getting supervision as a coach. I worked specifically for an entire year with men who had deep levels of PTSD and trauma who had been living in San Francisco's in the 80s, and had contracted HIV and AIDS. And so I bring that up because I have worked deeply with folks that are suffering from trauma. And I also worked with families and couples, and was watching the attachment trauma. Now I bring up attachment trauma, because it actually is related to triggers. So trauma can also have lasting effects in our nervous system in our bodies, if the traumatized person doesn't have an opportunity to process the event, to talk about the event, or be comforted by someone else, right after the event. So we can imagine if this is stemming from childhood, and we didn't have the words and we didn't feel safe to talk about it, and we didn't feel soothed by that experience, then we're probably still holding it. So these are all things to think about when we are thinking about triggers. And one of the things I also just wanted to preface here and I don't have any answer, before I move into this process is I have worked with a lot of companies and leaders in the last decades around reworks. And reworks, for the most part, are not done very skillfully. The communication I find very harsh, it's not caring, people will have been working at a company for 20 years, maybe 10 years, maybe eight years. And suddenly, they're laid off, they didn't see it coming. And the family at work that they've been a part of that they've been putting their life force, their energy, their love their service, and is no longer there. And there were many layoffs in 2020. That can be traumatic for folks. And I'd really love to invite workplaces and leaders that are listening, that let's create a different way of treating our people and caring for our people. When we tell them that it's time to go. No, there's this process that happens where when someone is getting laid off, they immediately don't have access to their computer or their files. And some people don't even get a chance to like, gather emails or documents. And I just don't think it's the most effective practice or process. So I don't have the solution. But my question is, can we design a more compassionate and caring communication process for those that are being asked to leave their current role or their workplace that is honoring and respectful. And I imagine I will have a podcast interview on that topic another day. Carley Hauck 18:10 But now I'd like to go into the next part of this interview, which is on how cultivating a strong inner game is going to enable you to navigate triggers skillfully. So the inner game is the body of work that I've been developing and teaching for over a decade with 1000s of folks, leadership positions, individual contributors, and students at Stanford University and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. The inner game rules the outer game. And there are six qualities of the inner game that I've identified and that I highlight in my new book that I believe really support one to navigate triggers skillfully, create healthy boundaries, and then have the brave exchanges so that the patterns that cause the trigger are minimized, and maybe even extinguished. So I value leading with authenticity. So I'm going to share with you all, how I got triggered the other day, and then how I used the six inner game skills to help me come back into balance and have the brave exchange. So I had scheduled two interviews for Friday of last week, and I was prepared for them, and they were on my schedule, and I was looking forward to them. The first interview was canceled due to a really challenging scenario with this particular leader that I was going to be speaking to. This client leader actually shared with me that she needed to reschedule our interview because there was a threat at her child's school and she recognized that she needed some space before having a call she she wasn't actually in the right headspace and so she asked to reschedule and so I really appreciated her cell phone In his her communication, her, her ability to notice she was triggered, she was not in a good place to talk. And so I honored her. I said, of course, please take care of yourself. And yeah, just reschedule when it's good for you. So that was the first cancellation of the day, it was totally fine. And then next, I had a podcast interview that I had scheduled about a month ago with a friend and colleague of mine, and I was very excited to have the conversation. And I had sent the, you know, Google Calendar and the zoom link, and we had corresponded about it. And the time arrived, I was on zoom, I was waiting. And there was five minutes that had passed, and I didn't see the guests. So I, so I texted this person. And then I emailed, then there was no response. I waited another few minutes. And because I know this guest, personally, I called them, there was no response. I texted, I sent these Zoom links again. And now it's getting to be around 15 minutes. And I was like, Okay, I guess this isn't happening today. I don't know what happened. But in the moment, I felt confused. I noticed I felt frustrated, there was some impatience, there was disappointment. After about 25 minutes, there was still no response, there was no acknowledgement. And I wasn't too triggered. But I definitely noticed I was triggered. And I'm going to share with you a process very soon to help you understand how triggered you are. I accepted that there was some fluke, and I decided, you know what I'm triggered, I'm going to go take a break, I'm going to come back into balance, and I need a break. Anyway, I've been on my computer a lot today. So I noticed that in all these feelings that came up, that there was a need to be acknowledged, there was a need for greater respect, there was a need for efficiency so that my time had been honored. Carley Hauck 22:19 And I also noticed that there was a request from myself that if we were to reschedule, to do this podcast interview, again, that I would want to make sure that this person was available and capable of responding. You know, maybe 30 minutes before the interview, or even afterwards, just in case there was a technology glitch, or scheduling glitch, so that this didn't happen again. But the no acknowledgement after text after emails after, you know, a call, I thought that was really odd. And I would want to make sure that they were available, their phone was on, they knew, you know that they needed to be available, just in case anything happened so that we were in communication. So I'm going to break down the process that I went through, that corresponds to the inner game. So self awareness is the first of the six inner game skills. So again, I was aware that I felt triggered. How did I know this, I was aware of the sensations in my body. My heart rate was higher, my blood pressure, I noticed I felt irritation, I was aware of some of the feelings that I already named. Emotional intelligence is a second inner game skill. And that comprises four dimensions- self awareness, which I already spoke to self regulation, which is this ability to regulate one's nervous system. So I noticed I was feeling triggered, I needed to take some deep breaths, I needed to take a break and shake it off, so to speak. Social awareness is another component of emotional intelligence, and then relationship mastery to our parts of the inner game, and to our parts of the outer game, which you'll see show up when I go into the conversation that I want to have. And so again, in my self regulation, I was breathing deeply. I actually went and sat outside in the sun, and I was really enjoying the sun because where I live right now in North Carolina, there has just been so much rain and so much gray weather, and I'm not used to it. So having this break in the middle of the day to get a little bit of sun poking through the clouds was actually a really beautiful gift. And then the third inner game practice is resilience and we can think of that as growth mindset. So the thought that I had while this was happening is I wonder what happened. Why? Why is this happening? Right? Which is coming from more curiosity versus why are they doing this to me? Why did this happen? So I had this sense that there's a reason why this is happening. And you know why? Because I was supposed to do a solo podcast on this topic. That's why it allowed me to use my experience as a teachable moment. For triggers for this first episode of Season Five. The fourth inner game practice is well being. So again, I took time to pause, I even sang a song in the car as I was driving to get out into the sun and singing helps me to calm down. I walked barefoot in the grass, I unplugged from technology, so I could really lower my arousal state. And I calm down. Love, that's number five. I was able to turn towards myself with compassion, Carley, you've had like, two people cancel on you today, and your schedule has gotten a little rocked, right? It's a little unpleasant. I offered myself care. And then I offered compassion to this other person, I hope they're okay, hope everything's fine. And so if I'm not able to bring that inner game of love, and compassion, and even forgiveness towards myself, first, it's really hard to put that out into the world and into my relationships. And the number six, the inner game of authenticity. When I moved into owning what was true for me, what were my feelings? What were my needs, and even going a layer deeper, I actually acknowledged that the trigger stirred some old emotional triggers for me that I've had due to childhood experiences, where I often felt like I was, you know, having to be super responsible, holding everything down, taking care of others, and there wasn't a lot of mutuality, there was sometimes not even communication. And that often then has me feeling a bit triggered, you know, like, I'm not being respected, I'm being neglected. And why do I have to work so hard, you know, to be able to get someone to meet me in this place. So that was coming up for me too. And I was also really recognizing my request, if we were to reschedule again. So that is coming from the inner game of authenticity. And if this person wasn't able to, you know, agree to some of my requests, in order to schedule another podcast interview, then it's not the right fit, and nothing personal, it's just, this is a process, it's not going to work for me again, and I don't want to have a repeat performance. So about an hour later, I actually did hear from this person, and they apologize, my name that they thought they were on, you know, Pacific Standard Time, even though all my communication and our Google calendar invite was on Eastern Standard Time, I brought attention to what I did to coordinate the interview to create efficiency. And then I actually had the brave exchange and I named my parameters and the agreement in order to reschedule this interview, and support this person with their new book. So this was honoring myself, my time, my boundaries. And by doing that I can be much more compassionate and forgiving with this person's process. Carley Hauck 29:15 So that is the way that when we cultivate these six inner game qualities of self awareness, emotional intelligence, resilience, well being love and authenticity, it supports us to have the brave exchange to navigate our triggers more easily because we've developed the skills to relate even in the midst of conflict, even in the midst of trigger. So I told you that I was going to give you a process to try and here it is: are you ready? This is the first step because we have to understand that we're triggered before we can actually relate skillfully to triggers. This is coming from chapter two in my book, and I'd love for you to just bring your attention inward. Just bring your awareness to your body to your breath. Kind of digesting everything I've shared, but letting it all go. Maybe move your fingers, your toes, your neck, shoulder circles back, whenever it feels good to just come into the body. This is only going to take a few minutes. So don't do this while you're driving. If you're walking, see if you can, you know, just pause to be still. And now just recall a time that happened recently where you felt triggered at work at home. And bring to mind the situation and go through this process with me. On a scale of one to 10, see if you can identify the number of trigger one being I feel calm. 10 being I am about to lose it. Can you recall? What was your number? Next, identify your emotions, there might be many: fear, anger, patience, disappointment. All feelings are welcome. Now turn towards your body. What bodily sensations are you aware of is there a tightness constriction, an irritation. And just notice where it's taking up space in your body, your hands, your belly, your head, is it a lot of space is in a little bit of space. And trying to stay in the body, don't go into story. And next, try to identify what the narrative is about this situation this person did or said or this happened. And we can have lots of narratives and they can either bring us up or they can bring us down. And if you recall, the experience that I shared, I was able to stay in curiosity. I wondered what happened. But I welcome you to really acknowledge whatever narrative is true. Well, what is your narrative about the situation right now. And notice that you probably have a need from this person from this situation. What need do you have right now that would support you to come into greater balance, maybe you have a need for a break. First, maybe you have a need for connection for respect for whatever it is love for you to just acknowledge what that need is, honor it. And then bring your awareness back to your body back to your breath. Maybe do a little movement, a little shaking. So that process can take a couple minutes. And it's really helpful for you to go through so that you can start to understand your patterns and be able to have choice over your response in the moment that you're triggered. Carley Hauck 34:45 And I wanted to share just another piece that when you're first identifying the number on a scale of one to 10. If you're at a five or higher, I would invite you to really pause at that moment. This is not the time to have the conversation. Because in that range of trigger, you've usually left your heart and you're pretty much in your head, which means you're in a more fear based place. If you're in your heart, you're still coming from love, you might still be coming from care, compassion, forgiveness, you're able to really hold space for your experience and the other. But when we're too triggered, we're in attack mode, because that's how our nervous system is wired, we are going to be in fight flight, or freeze versus the, you know, more relaxed care and befriend space. And so you're human, it's okay, if you're above a five, go take good care of yourself, do what you need to do to shake it off, and then identify what your need is. And so one of the ways that we can communicate that we're triggered, so that we're actually able to salvage and have care for the other, especially if this is in the midst of another person, is we just acknowledge it, I feel triggered, or I'm not in a good place to talk right now. The other thing that can happen is that we're in dialogue or relationship with someone else who's triggered, and they may not actually even be able to say that they're triggered. So that's also a really wonderful time. If you're aware that this person's triggered, and they're coming from fight flight, or freeze, which means they're withdrawn, they're attacking, or they're just kind of frozen, that you might also interject and say, What do you think about us taking a pause, taking a break, and revisiting this in 15 minutes, or Let's reschedule to another day, right. And you don't necessarily have to say, Hey, I think you're triggered, because that could create more of a trigger for the other person, but you just offer a pause. And if that person isn't able to hear it, you can still take it, because that's you honoring you, and that's you holding healthy boundaries. So I hope that all this information was helpful to you. And you can grow your inner game, so that you can be a conscious leader at work life in the world. And that inner game will support you to navigate triggers more skillfully. And there are a couple ways for you to cultivate a strong inner game, and to also continue these types of practices. One is the podcast. I believe this is Episode 48. So all of the podcasts interviews that I have done, I'm sharing practices, I've interviewed leaders, and they're talking about the challenges they've had and what they've utilized to really grow their inner game and navigate their own complexities at work and at home because we bring our whole selves wherever we go, you know, it's not compartmentalised. As I was sharing earlier, our childhood experiences impact, what triggers us at work, and at home. You can also get my book in hardcopy or an audiobook is available. And I would love to support you with the wonderful stories of leaders in the book and incredible science and the practices that you can apply to your life. You could also book a free consultation with me and we can develop a specific training for your organization, team, or leadership. I also love creating large scale learning and leadership development programs with these foundational skills embedded. And the links for the book. And booking time with me will all be in the show notes. Carley Hauck 39:20 Before I say farewell for now, I'd like to invite one more invitation. It's so important that we start to understand the patterns of what triggers us. And so as you go about your day, you might start to explore what are the patterns of things that are causing me to feel triggered at home, at work? Here are some examples at work. Do I get triggered in group meetings? If so, why? And my one-on-ones with my supervisor. Do I get triggered when they do or say certain things? Why is this potentially related to old experiences in my childhood or my family of origin are another experience that reminds me of this? Do I feel triggered when I am ignored, or when I feel a lack of belonging or trust? Where's that coming from? So, just really being curious. There's no judgment here, because we all have it. But if we can start to understand the root of it, and we bring caring, and loving awareness, we can start to shift our response and create new healthy patterns on the inside, and less on how we show up on the outside. Before we part, I am going to share my heart's desire. This feels a bit vulnerable. And I've never used the platform for this purpose, but it feels timely, and we live in a virtual connected world. I am in a wonderful place in my life, where I am seeking a conscious inclusive human being who has a deep commitment to learning growth and using relationship as spiritual practice. This person, like me, has devoted time and energy for many years with teachers, programs, healers, therapists, coaches, to develop and cultivate the inner game skills I've been speaking of: self awareness, emotional intelligence, empathy, growth mindset, leading from love, forgiveness, authenticity. And they are excited and ready to engage in skillful relating and navigating conflict with health, and patients, and responsiveness. And as I had shared earlier, how I came to develop this practice for myself on navigating triggers was due to the ending of a relationship. But throughout my entire existence of this life, I have yet to find a person that can stay. That has the skills for this type of relating. And I'm at a place where I will not date anyone that does not have the skills, I do not want to go through the pain that has occurred by not being met in these basic capabilities of relating, they feel basic to me. I'm aware, they're not for everyone. So if you are listening to this, you feel a sense of resonance with me with this image of relating. And you're excited to explore beautiful partnership, and supporting one another to be the best versions of ourselves in service of a more just inclusive and regenerative world, I would love to hear from you. Please reach out. conversations are always a great way to start. And I'm always in the mindset that we are always learning and growing from each other. And I'm always willing to see how we can support each other even if it's not, you know, moving towards what I'm calling in this particular message. If you are also listening to us and you know, an eligible, single cisgendered heterosexual male who fits this description, and you would like to reach out and introduce us, I would be delighted to hear from you. It's all about introductions and supporting one another, to grow into our best selves with the right community opportunities. So thank you for hearing my heart's desire. And as always, I so appreciate you being part of the podcast community for listening in. And until we meet again, be the light and shine your light.

Conscious Entrepreneurship with Suzi Sosa

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2021 55:44

Are you a CEO, a founder or a leader in the C suite? Did you have to let go of half your employees in 2020 or some of your senior leadership team? Or are you going through a huge reorganization of your business and trying to figure out how to be skillful, navigate racial inequities at work? And lets throw another piece into the mix, it's the middle of a pandemic! It sounds like a movie, but its not. You are not alone my friend. Our topic for today is conscious entrepreneurship with Suzi Sosa. Suzi is CEO and co-founder of Verb, a learning development platform, a loving mom, a friend, a sister, and a social entrepreneur. In this interview, we are going deep into three timely topics, each of which will provide you with applicable action steps to lead more consciously at work and in your life. We explore the fear mindset that Suzi grew up with and how she chooses to shift that story by staying awake, trusting, and surrendering. We also examine the inner game skills that Suzi relied on in the last year to be the conscious inclusive leader that she is. Lastly, how she responded skillfully in the midst of a difficult conversation and conflict around anti-racism with her team members. Suzi articulates how she did it and how she is continuing to learn and grow. Tune in to this insightful episode today! SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Sign up for the Podcast! Carley on LinkedIn Resources mentioned in this episode: Suzi Sosa on LinkedIn Verb, Inc. The Surrender Experiment: My Journey Into Life's Perfection by Michael A. Singer The Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscious of Business to Help Heal the World by Rajendra Sisodia and Michael J. Gelb The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 0:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck and welcome to season four of the SHINE podcast. This is the last interview of the season. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things: conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices. Before I tell you about our topic today, can you go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of our incredible interviews. I have many wonderful folks lined up for season five, which will end out 2021. And it would help so much if you could write a positive review, it helps folks find us and supports sharing the light. Thank you so much. Our topic for today is conscious entrepreneurship with Suzi Sosa. Are you a CEO, a founder or a leader in the C suite? Did you have to let go of half your employees and 2020 or some of your senior leadership team? Or are you going through a huge reorganization of your business and trying to figure out how to be skillful, navigate racial inequities at work. And it's the middle of a pandemic? Sounds like a movie. You are not alone my friend. Meet one of my favorite humans and conscious inclusive leaders Suzi Sosa. Suzi is CEO and co-founder of Verb, a learning development platform, a loving mom, a friend, a sister, a social entrepreneur. In this interview, we are going deep into three things. And you will be able to really take away some applicable action steps to lead more consciously at work and in your life. Number one, how Suzi grew up with this narrative that if you aren't vigilant, on it all the time, your life is gonna fall apart, you'll be destitute. That's a lot of fear mindset. Learn how she chooses to shift that story by staying awake, taking one step at a time, trusting and surrendering the path. Number two, what inner game skills has Suzi relied on in the last year to be the conscious inclusive leader that she is? Number three- how do you respond skillfully in the midst of a difficult conversation and conflict around anti racism with your team members? Suzi will articulate how she did it. And it's continuing to learn and grow. It's always a choice in practice. These are just some of the nuggets I loved out of this interview. I'm excited to share it with you. Thanks for being here. Carley Hauck 03:37 Suzi, I feel so delighted to have you on the SHINE podcast. Thank you for being here. Suzi Sosa 03:42 Oh, thank you for having me. It's great to be with you. Carley Hauck 03:45 So everyone, this is my friend Suzi Sosa who is the co-founder and CEO of Verb. And I can't wait for you to hear her story and let her shine her beautiful light. So Suzi, one of the first questions that I often ask folks to come on to the podcast is what does conscious inclusive leadership and business mean to you? Suzi Sosa 04:16 Hmm. Why I think the word conscious is the first one that means the most to me, which is really about waking up. And that's actually something that I found in my inner work is actually my life's purpose is to wake people up. And to be conscious of what's happening. I think that, you know, a lot of us go around life in a kind of non state, we do things by default. There's a sort of obvious way to do things. And to me, to be a conscious leader means you're not just walking around running your company in the obvious default way, you're actually fully present in, you know, mind body spirit. And asking yourself, you know, is this the way that I want to do things? Is this what is best for me? Is this what's best for my people? Is this what's best for the customers? Is this what's best for the planet? So that's what conscious leadership is, to me, it's awake, right? It's fully present. And I think inclusive leadership is a very natural derivative of that, that when you wake up, and you look around at what you're doing, as a business leader, you become aware that not everybody is experiencing the same level of inclusion. And that's hurting your business. So you, I believe, then start to think about, okay, what does it take for me to create the kind of company that you know, is holistic, is healing and welcomes all. So conscious and inclusive business as one that's being very intentional about how it shows up, what it wants to do, how it interacts with all of its stakeholders, it's serving something higher than financial motive. And, you know, it's really driven by that kind of stakeholder model, where it's not just providing benefit to one singular group of shareholders, but it's really thinking about the inclusivity of all different kinds of stakeholders that it impacts. Carley Hauck 06:40 Wonderful, thank you. So I hear part of it is waking up. It's really taking into account all the people that the business is impacting, and really looking to see how it can bring an inclusive, maybe lens, to all the stakeholders, just kind of summarizing some of those key points. And I heard, more importantly, that your purpose is to wake people up. So I want to go into that a little bit. How are you waking people up? Right now? Suzi Sosa 07:13 In this conversation with you, hopefully, someone will listen to this. And oh, I've never thought of that before. Right now, my fulfillment of my life's purpose is as the CEO of a company called Verb. And we provide leadership training through an online platform. And we focus specifically on the conscious skills that you write about, in SHINE, that we call, at Verb, we call them human centered leadership skills. And they include things like self awareness, empathy, authenticity, self care. And, so my, my vision, and my goal for Verb is that we offer this training through companies to their employees, and that people get exposed to the possibility of a different way of being through what we teach them on Verb, much like you do with your book. And that they kind of wake up to the possibility of showing up differently at work, but and in other aspects of their life, that maybe that self awareness, or that newfound mindfulness or newfound connection to compassion might also wake them up to how they are being with their children or with their partner with their neighbor, or whoever it might be. So that's my goal right now is to help people wake up to a life of greater fulfillment, joy, connection, by getting access to these personal power skills that maybe they didn't really know about before. Carley Hauck 8:58 And what I imagine is also inherent, even though you didn't say it is maybe waking up to greater meaning, right? And even even like the purpose that you feel very connected to, you know, we are in such an important time, and you and I've had a lot of side conversations about this, but just the the opportunity and the responsibility that we have, as a humanity right now as a collective to really make the right decisions for the long term for the future generations. And I think that right now, as we're seeing in the workplace, this great resignation happening where 40% of folks are leaving their current roles in their jobs, mostly because either it wasn't the right fit or it's not the right team, or it's void of real meaning and purpose. And when we have things hovering above us, like, you know, systemic racism and impending climate change and you know, climate catastrophe like it brings it home that what I am actually choosing right now has more impact than maybe any other time. Suzi Sosa 10:15 Yeah. For sure, I think that, you know, everybody's waking up to this a little bit. And in the last year and a half, when many people have felt, you know, that death was closer than ever before. Suddenly, you ask yourself, oh, gosh, well, if my time here is short, what do I want to do with my life? Who do I want to spend time with? How do I want my days to be? Who do I want to put myself in service to? If that's what work is? Right? Do I want to be in service of selling a product that causes harm? Or do I want to be in service of a business that is doing good? Carley Hauck 11:02 Wonderful? Well, I know that you started off, you know, in social entrepreneurship, and in many ways Verb is continuing that just, you know, it kind of in a different way and a different model. And for those folks that don't know what social entrepreneurship is, and I know that you were, you know, part of co-creating the social entrepreneurship program at UT Austin, you were also recognized in 2014, as Ernst and Young was a social entrepreneur of the year. Could you tell folks what that is, and why that's important to you? Suzi Sosa 11:43 Yeah, I'd be happy to. And I'll just tell a little bit of a story of how I got to it. Because I didn't really know what it was in the beginning. I went to grad school to become a civil servant. I thought that was how I could support and help the most people, I was always clear that I wanted to be an agent of social change. And my second day of work was 9/11. I was working. I was working in the US Department of Commerce, giving grants to low income communities in the southwest and in the southwest region, based in Austin. And our budget was frozen, as the government kind of recalibrated how they wanted to respond to 9/11. And I was young and idealistic and impatient. So I quit. I said, Well, you guys aren't doing anything. And there's a lot that needs to get done. And I ended up meeting an entrepreneur here in Austin, Texas, who had started one of the very first prepaid debit card companies called Netspend. And they were selling these prepaid cards to the working poor, mostly African American and Hispanic women who didn't want to use traditional bank accounts because they were living paycheck to paycheck. And those overdraft fees might be what they would spend monthly on their utilities or on groceries. And so they couldn't afford $40 of overdraft fees once or twice a month. And I was captivated by this business, because it was actually serving a very needy population with a product that actually the federal government had been trying to figure out. They had been creating federal banking programs to help the unbanked, but they hadn't been very successful in distribution. And so then this was in the early 2000s. And I started wandering around asking, why can't we take the best of the nonprofit world and the best of the business world and bring them together, and I didn't have a term for it at the time. But eventually, I stumbled on this, quote, social entrepreneurship community. And they were using terms like double bottom line and triple bottom line businesses, which meant that you would build a business that was held accountable not just to financial performance, but also to some kind of social impact goals. Or if it was triple bottom line, it would have financial goals, social impact goals, and environmental goals. And so that was like my people. And I kind of dedicated myself to social entrepreneurship, both in terms of working with entrepreneurs in the for profit world, and also in the nonprofit world, looking at things like earned income models and helping nonprofits to become more scalable and more financially healthy and not always relying on donations. And it was very much a stepping stone to conscious capitalism and conscious leadership where I am now. The piece that was missing for me in social entrepreneurship is actually the individual and personal piece. It was always focused on the structure of the business. So if you had a double bottom line business, you were a social entrepreneur. And it didn't matter whether you were living a life of integrity, practicing responsibility, being authentic, creating trust, because no one was talking about the personal dimension. And it wasn't until I arrived in the conscious capitalism community that they brought that layer in too. So there was accountability for how the business was organized, and accountability for how you as a leader show up and how you interact with your team. Carley Hauck 15:28 Well, and they're so integrated, right, like, you can't have one without the other. Suzi Sosa 15:36 Yeah, I mean, I've seen a lot of social enterprises that I don't think are run consciously, where, you know, people are not given time for self care, or where there isn't honesty and integrity. So there's a bit of hypocrisy there, right. And so I think it's really fantastic to, like, level up the game, it's not just enough to have a social impact, or maybe, you know, have a positive environmental impact. There's also the kind of how you show up as a human being that matters to? Carley Hauck 16:08 Well, that's a really great pivot, thank you for that answer, into, you know, how you are choosing to show up right now, at work as a leader of Verb, for your family, for your community. And in the last year and a half, we've all been going through quite a lot of volatility, of uncertainty of ambiguity of complexity. And I know that consciousness is something that's a value to you, and you've already had various practices. But I wonder, what are the practices that have really helped you stay strong? And we could say, awake and courageous at this time? And maybe even is there one that you are even growing more into leaning more into? So they're kind of two separate questions like, what's the base, now that you've had, because like, I even think about myself, you know, I wrote for four years on this inner game, which was really written for this time, you know, for this complex, uncertain time. And so I'm aware that thank goodness, I already had this foundation of practice for 20 plus years. And I'd been teaching it and facilitating it. And it never goes away. Like, it's never like, Oh, I'm done. We just had this conversation, there are layers and layers and going into even deeper aspects of these capabilities of the skills. Suzi Sosa 17:48 For sure. You know, the time when my conscious leadership was forged, was really, in 2013, I had decided to get divorced. And I had, at the time, a one year old and a three year old. And I started Verb, the same year. And unfortunately, you know, in the wake of my divorce, I was not in a very financially healthy position, I had quite a bit of debt, I think I had about $5,000 of savings, and a brand new company. And so there was a lot of resilience needed to navigate the trials and tribulations of the startup. And also just this whole new identity. You know, I remember I used to think about myself as a divorcee, I can't know what it all of that means. And it was in those early years as Verb floundered and as I really didn't have any kind of safety net, that I had to build those skills of self awareness, like Who am I? And I'm no longer this wife, I'm no longer this, you know, partner, I have a whole new identity being created. And I'm having to manage very young kids, a brand new company and all of this uncertainty. So like you, I feel grateful that I've had, you know, a decade of intense practice, and the last year called upon a lot of those skills. And when I, you know, first went through that period in 2012-2013, I think that, uh, at the time, I was learning how to toggle a lot between a couple of different energy states and one was kind of a self care. So for me, that's been a mixture of meditation, exercise, healthy eating and rest. And when I go through periods of intense stress, I actually do tend to lean into that more and I get more regular with exercise more regular with cooking and, and then what that toggles between is actually kind of a warrior energy, which is about focus, prioritization, really figuring out what's important making difficult decisions confronting things. And so last year and 2020, I really relied back on those kind of two natures at times of, you know, really focusing more on caregiving, whether myself or with my team, and at other times really focusing on warrior energy and decisive leadership. Where I'm moving to now is I really was taken by Mickey Singer's book, The Surrender Experiment, and this concept of really just surrendering to whatever's happening, because I think that the inner game skills that I learned in the 2012-2013 period, and even that I relied on last year, are still trying to kind of muscle things a little bit, like, Okay, I'm gonna, I'm really gonna go intense into self care, you know, and there's a bit of like, look at me how much I'm self caring. And now it's like, I'm really gonna go into leadership and, and what I love about where you're on exactly, and what I love about the practice of surrender is not muscling in anymore. And for me, that is really leaning into faith, abundance, the sense of trust that things are going to work out. And that's like a higher order, way of being a conscious leader. So it's, it's challenging, you know, I was raised in a family culture where the, you know, we were taught, if you're not vigilant, your life will fall apart, you know, that the, that the universe tends toward chaos, isolation, disease, death, poverty, you know, basically, if you are not on it at all times, you'll be, you know, destitute, dying, and under a bridge. And so it's a choice I have to make to believe that the universe has got my back. And all I need to do is just like, stay awake, stay open, and keep walking in the path that is, you know, being revealed in front of me. So that's, that's my current focus and what I'm working on. Carley Hauck 22:28 Hmm, thank you so much. That was a beautiful answer. And I just can really feel the depth of how you have experimented and your awareness of watching it. of, you know, we could say the masculine, the feminine, right, that Yin Yang, and then this surrendering, which I just kind of think of is like that middle point, where you're just oh, this is this is what's happening. Okay. This is how I'm choosing to show up right now. Suzi Sosa 23:00 Yeah, and just stay in that place of curiosity, like, I've really been practicing, saying to myself, Oh, I can't wait to see how this is gonna work out. You know, when I'm in a moment of uncertainty, and instead of worrying about it and ruminating on scenarios, Oh, I'm so curious to see how this is gonna work out. Carley Hauck 23:20 I have some questions that I asked myself too, which just kind of turns it. It's more that growth mindset of the possibility, which is like, Oh, I wonder what amazing opportunities are gonna come in my door, or I wonder what incredible team I'm going to join. Or I wonder how I'm going to be in service today? Or like, Where's the magic interview today? You know, just all of those, I think, keeps it in a state of Unknowing but positive outlook. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Well, I have so many more questions for you. So the next one I'd love to ask is, you know, I, I know that a few months ago, we were going to have a conversation just just to chat and talk informally and catch up and you emailed me and basically shared with me, from a very skillful way. Hey, Carley, um, you didn't use these words, but essentially, like you weren't in a good space to talk. And that was because of a conflict that was happening within your team at Verb around the subject of anti racism. And you wanted to take time to reflect, to figure out how you wanted to show up and I wanted to ask you, how you were able to be authentic, about your views on that. To engage in more healthy conflict with your team around a topic that clearly you felt very passionate about, and we're having a lot of feelings about depending on, you know, the conversations and maybe the different worldview and lived experiences that other folks were having, and then how you were able to maybe bring in some compassionate accountability and agreements, would you be willing to share more? Suzi Sosa 25:22 Yes, you know, the conversation about race equity inclusion was another one of the very hard things that showed up for me in 2020. You know, my business last year was, you know, in a state of survival. And I was very focused on, you know, making it through what, at the time, you know, we didn't have any visibility into how long this pandemic was going to last and what was going to happen to the economy afterward. So in June of 2020, we had started to expand our own DEI offerings inside of our product for our customers, because as a leadership development platform, it was obviously a topic that we needed to be supporting companies with. And my team leadership team came to me as a group, and said, Hey, we don't feel comfortable selling this when we're not doing this work actively in the company. And, and my very first reaction was like, I don't have time for this, you know, I felt like we were in survival mode. And I also was just confronted that you know, what, you know, you think, you know, our company is not not being run well. And it was very challenging, I had so much resistance to even wanting to take on learning about something new, and exploring my own blind spots, you know, coming up with a point of view, one of the things they wanted me to do was to write a statement about Verbs a point of view on racism after the murders last year, and I felt like overwhelmed. Like, I didn't know what my point of view was, I hadn't really been reading about it, I hadn't been thinking about it. And so that sparked a journey that we are on now to become an anti-racist company and support other companies and becoming anti-racist. And on the day, when you and I were supposed to have a call, we had our anti-racism working group had just met. And we, some of the group members had facilitated a conversation with the rest of us about how white supremacy, culture shows up at Verb. And they we broke into small groups and so we broke into small groups, and then everybody reported out and I'm sitting there listening to my team members, speaking plainly about their experience of how the culture of white supremacy shows up at Verb- a company that I that I think of as being run as a conscious company, and we specialize in conscious leadership. And it was very intense. And confronting, and, and that's why I couldn't talk to you because I was like, I have to process this. Yeah, hold on a moment. Carley Hauck 28:32 Yeah, be reflective, self manage, I felt very in support of you taking that time taking care of yourself. Yes. We're at the midway point of this wonderful interview. And I wanted to take just a few minutes to pause to take a little body break, breath, notice the tension in your body, maybe do some shoulder circles back, take some deep breaths, a little wiggle, a little sigh. And I'd like to share an insight that I've been gathering in the last 1920 months since the pandemic started. I've been talking to lots of CEOs, founders, chro, Senior talent, folks, these are the people that I partner with when I'm brought in to support learning, leadership development, culture work. And what I knew when the pandemic hit was that these more extrinsic rewards of, you know, free cafeteria food and Amazon gift cards and shuttle buses that would bring all the commuters in Silicon Valley where I lived and served many industries and high growth startups for many years. That's not available anymore. So because I've always known the need for learning leadership development, I knew that that was going to become the new priority. And that would be what would actually keep teams and companies thriving, engaged, connected, high performing and innovative. And in the past, learning, leadership development and culture work was typically the first thing that was cut by the budget. But now, I see this recognition of companies in all industries that this is the thing that we need to invest in, and we need to invest in our people. And because I've supported so many different companies in the last decade, LinkedIn, Intuit, Pixar, Bank of the West, high growth startups, I've often been brought in for the reorg to implement new structure systems. And it is imperative that when we're going through the reorg, which is what we're all doing right now, all businesses all over the world, that there's an assessment to see where is the psychological safety and trust in the teams and the leadership and the overall culture because if that's not there, then any new systems, any new structures are not going to succeed. And upskilling is really what we're seeing is going to create this flourishing, hybrid distributed future of work. And the upskilling that I've really supported in many industries and companies, I call this the inner game or the power skills. These have everything to do with being a human centered leader and workplace. And they're what I talk about in my new book SHINE. And they support the company to get ready for the new next. And by investing internally in your people, and upskilling in these capabilities for self awareness, emotional intelligence, empathy, agility, decision making, critical thinking, resilience, you're creating an environment to nurture the best possible potential. And you're also giving your employees what they really want, which is learning and leadership and mentoring and coaching, and they're not going to want to go anywhere else, they're gonna want to stay. I would love to support you in the challenges that you and your business are facing right now. And I have a proven track record of success and a wealth of experience, and strategic know-how to do this. You can book a free consultation with me to learn more on how I and my team can support you in a more full time capacity. The link is in the show notes. Now back to the interview. Suzi Sosa 33:13 But I think that, you know, how leaders respond to those moments is everything. And so when you, you know, ask me, you know, how do I help support, productive conflict, that Verb, it's in the way that I respond in moments like that, right? And at the time, I intently listened, and I had my inner game skills, like, on on all cylinders, because there were so many moments in that conversation where the little voice in my head wanted to argue, rebut, you know, whatever respond or even sometimes just shut down in shame, you know, and it was like, stay open, stay open, listen, be present, hear what they're saying. You know, and, and so it's moments like those that create the like, kind of organizational history and culture that allow for other conflict for other voices to come up. Carley Hauck 34:23 Well, and for transformation and healing, right? Like if we're not willing to stay, and we go into that fight or flight response, right, the fight or the shutting down in the freezer, or just the freeze, right? And then there is that break, and it takes courage to be willing to stay to be with that level of discomfort. And, you know, stay open to it, stay in curiosity, you would use that word before. So where are you now? Suzi Sosa 34:55 We, actually personally, what a transformation just for myself, like, I remember it starting out that I was appalled by the idea that I would ever call myself a racist, like, I am not a racist, you know, I was so sure of that. And now I know I was just, I am a racist, and I was racist, just unknowingly. You know, I was kind of oblivious. I don't know if there's a term, but I was kind of oblivious, racist, because I was not at all thinking about the experience of non-white people, in my company, in our in my neighborhood, in our country. And so there was a great awakening for me. And also, I did, I joined some courses. So I kind of got deep into the learning part of the work, which gave me a level of enough confidence about the topic that I could start to form my own point of view, which is where things you know, for me to get exciting, because I'm not in a reaction mode, I'm actually in a creator mode. And now I can say, oh, who do I want to be in this conversation? Who do I want my company to be in this conversation? Like, what are we going to do? What are we going to stand for? How are we going to help? And we have so far to go, you know, our anti-racism working group is now and just finished it's eight months of working together, which, you know, in a 400, and then a 400 year history of what we're trying to change. It's, it's like, nothing, it's a blink. So we're very, very early, but we're developing some skill around it. And, and my goal, you know, you know, I want to change how people experience work at Verb on the day to day, and I want us to just build this practice of looking, looking, talking, asking ourselves, are we operating in a way that's aligned with who we want to be and then you know, it's an endless loop of, of looking and asking and changing and looking and asking and changing, I don't think that we're ever going to be done with the work. It's just a practice that we're building as a conscious company. Carley Hauck 37:24 What I hear underneath that is that there has to be enough psychological safety and you being the leader, one of the core leaders, that is that is setting that that is modeling, hey, I'm open, I might be like, in discomfort, but I'm open to hearing what you have to say, and I'm gonna stay curious. And I want to hear, and then I'm actually gonna shift like, I'm gonna take it into consideration seriously, and I'm committed to this. And that is what I think, you know, creates that overall commitment by the company and the different experience totally for everyone. Wonderful. Suzi Sosa 38:07 Yeah, it's, it's a, it's something that you can't create in a moment you create through lots and lots of interaction. So I have one of the leaders on my team, who was the person who pushed me the most in the conversation about race, and she really had to go into an edge, you know, just to say the things to me, like, Hey, boss, you know, that like, this does not work or what you said here, or, you know, and so she made herself vulnerable to do that. And then the way I responded to that, you know, okay, she realized, okay, I can do this. So she could do it a little more. And, you know, that's how it works, you know, at the individual level, not at the team level, and at the company level. And one of the things that I've learned in this last year, that I found was the most effective if you want to give a steroids shot of psychological safety into your company, is to apologize. And think that real vulnerable, authentic apologies, have like such a ripple effect, right? They show what you're, what you stand for, and what you're committed to. They show as a leader that you're willing to be vulnerable and admit that you made a mistake. And we all know that an environment where people can fail is very important for innovation and transformation. And it really shows that commitment to kind of doing something differently. And so, you know, there have been a couple of moments in the past couple of years when there was a reason I needed to apologize and I do that now openly, you know, in front of the appropriate audience, depending on what happened. And it really creates like an extra boost, like others feel like oh, okay, you know she did that, then maybe I can take a risk and say this thing or I know that I can clean up something I did that didn't go the way I planned. Carley Hauck 40:17 Wonderful. Well, and what I hear you exercising in the apology is, you know self awareness, emotional intelligence, the growth mindset of resilience. But then also, you know, that authenticity where you're taking personal responsibility, and you're being humble. Hey, messy human here, how you doing? Suzi Sosa 40:48 Yeah, totally. Yeah, it's really uncomfortable. It's, it's, but it's something that the more you do it, the better you get at it. And I think there's a lot of freedom in recognizing that your actions don't define you, you know, and that's, it's something again, that just takes practice to believe and to feel like, my actions don't define me. And so when you do mess up, you can go and apologize and not have that mean that you are a lesser person, or should be relegated to shame or something like that. Carley Hauck 41:21 Yeah, and I want to just mirror back what I just saw in your body, because not everybody will, nobody can see you, but I can. I'm the lucky one, I get to see Suzi. But when you just said that my actions don't define me, your shoulders came back, your chest opened up, you've and kind of tilted your head up. Like there was sunshine beaming, you know, there is just a full expansion. And then you just kind of just shake off that shame, right? Like, I mean, that that's what's so powerful about mindfulness, right? Like, every moment is a unique moment, it will never be the same. And we can change at any moment. So well, I could talk to you all day. One day, I'm sure we'll have that opportunity. But time that we have right now I have two juicy questions for you left. So I'm speaking on this whole topic of, you know, diversity, inclusion, equity belonging, I know that you just did a powerful panel on creating a culture of belonging yesterday at the virtual conscious capitalism. And what were some broad strokes or takeaways that you could share? I mean, creating a culture of belonging in a remote distributed hybrid workforce. Whoo! Suzi Sosa 42:47 Yeah. I think I call that the Black Diamond level challenge. So, you know, it's one more worthy of taking on. I was actually just facilitating a conversation with my dear friend Kim Mans, who's the founder and CEO of H3Diversity, and she has a really fantastic framework of head, heart and hands for approaching DEI. Yes, and Carley shaking her hands. And, and, and yesterday, what we really went deep into was the heart. And that belonging is really much more accessible when you connect to it from a heart center, you know, even before you get to the head. So what we did is we asked all the participants to go into pairs and think about a time when they were part of an organization where they felt they belonged. And what was that like? And what did that make available to you? And it was things like, trust and expression and freedom and comfort and safety. And then a little bit later, we said, Now think about a time when you were somewhere where you felt you didn't belong? And it could be in a foreign country or in another organization? And how did that impact what you brought, right? And in the people in their sharing, it was so real. And what I found interesting was the few of the people that shared. You know, one was a Jewish man who grew up in the military at a time when it was not common to have Jewish people in the military. And he was in a part of the US where he also didn't feel very culturally welcome. Another woman shared about being one of the first female CFOs in her generation and that she was often coached by mentors not to bring certain aspects of her womanhood to the job as a CFO. And so what became available to everyone is that this topic of belonging is not a conversation about race. It's a conversation about our whole selves and what is it like to be able to bring If not your whole self, but Gosh, a whole heck of a lot of yourself. Right? A lot of your parts. Yes, exactly. And, and I think one of the key takeaways was for all of us to just be, you know, a little more aware, and maybe even asking our people like, you know, do you feel that you get to bring your whole self to work and what would be needed for you to feel that you could bring more of yourself to work, because, like, in those two examples of, you know, her gender and his religion, there might be aspects of someone's being that you're not even aware that they don't feel they can bring, right. And so I think what my big takeaways from what Kim was sharing with everyone is one to start with the heart, and to really connect to our own personal experiences of feeling when we belong, and when we don't. And then to get real curious about the people who are around you and what their experience is of belonging in your organization. Carley Hauck 46:02 Beautiful, thank you, start with the heart, get really curious, share your own experience. And also, I think, be willing to be maybe a little bit more vulnerable, right, so that people do get to see you. And then you get to see like, can they meet you where you are, right. Suzi Sosa 46:25 And I think there's a bit of creativity that is going to be required too, because we're all used to again, just going back to that unconscious leadership of doing things and kind of default way and maybe not even realizing that that may, those activities might undermine belonging. So for example, in my company, we used to celebrate a lot by going out drinking. And that was just a common thing, you know, you could have a great day or a great week, or close a deal, everyone goes to the bar. And in the conversation about inclusion, some of our team members shared that they always felt a bit excluded, because they, you know, had small kids at home, they couldn't go to a bar, they didn't feel comfortable at a bar they didn't like drinking. And that caused us to have to get creative and say, Okay, well, are there other ways we can celebrate that are more inclusive? And, you know, that's a simple example. But I think there are a lot of other things that we were just doing as a kind of default mode as a company, because it's the way I've always done it. Carley Hauck 37:28 It's the dominant culture, right? Like, like, let's get unconscious. You know? I don't, I don't drink personally, either. So that's, that's where that comes from. Suzi Sosa 47:43 Exactly. So I think that it's gonna take for the grizzled gray leaders like me, it's gonna take some curiosity and some open heartedness to explore doing things really differently than we've always done before. Carley Hauck 47:58 Yeah, and I, for anybody that loves drinking, and it's not a conscious or an unconscious thing that that remark was a little unskillful. So I'm just acknowledging that I hope that didn't brush anybody the wrong way. Okay, one more quick question. And the question that I have for you is, I know that part of the waking up and verb and, you know, the leadership that you put out into the world is motivated by social impact by this passion for diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging. But I feel really curious, in this great awakening, unraveling of systems, of structures that we're in to create a workplace in a world that works for everyone, and is really in harmony with the planet, so that we have a flourishing future. What do you think is really important in the next one to two years for leaders and companies to take action on now? Big question. Suzi Sosa 49:07 Yeah, I know that it's about expanding our view, and confronting some of these old norms. So for example, one of the questions we were all confronted with last year was whether as a company you should take a political stand for whether we should take a stand on racism and other social justice questions. And I think most companies in the past have said that we're just business, we are not going to pine on politics or social questions, but that isn't really a viable option anymore. We have to expand our view of the responsibility of business. We can't just say, oh, all we do is make money. You know, no, don't worry about us over here, because obviously the way we're making money is deeply impacting our social structures, our environment and, and more. So I would say the headline is, business has to expand its view of itself of its responsibility. You know that, to me means, you know, every company has to serve some higher purpose than profit. Like it, profit is not a goal. John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods, who's been an incredible mentor of mine who says, the purpose of a business is no more about making money than the purpose of a human body is to make red blood cells. You need those red blood cells to fulfill your life's purpose. Business needs money to fulfill its life's purpose. But making money can't be the purpose. And I believe that's going to be every company, not just the social entrepreneurs or the conscious, conscious companies. And I think that business has to expand its view of its responsibility to employees, community and the planet. So a couple of years ago, years ago, a book came out called The Healing Organization, from a couple of authors in the conscious capitalism community. And they argued that it's not enough to do no harm, that businesses actually have to step up and heal the harm of the past. And so, you know, your employees are suffering from mental health issues, right now they are. And as a business leader, it is your responsibility to help them deal with that. Your business is present in a community that has wounds of systemic racism and poverty in it. And it is your responsibility to heal those, even though you may not have been around when the wounds were first created, and so forth. So I think there's really, at the, you know, again, at the headline, it's this expanded view of what business is, is meant to do, of what business is responsible for. And I hope that will buy us a shot at keeping capitalism because I really do believe that capitalism has the potential to to support our planet in terms of prosperity, and meeting human needs, but the way it's been showing up, isn't working. And it has to evolve. Carley Hauck 52:24 Yeah. Yeah. If we could be more altruistically motivated, like an altruistic new economy, I did a podcast episode with a colleague and friend of mine several months back, and we talked all about, you know, the new incentives for a more just economy. Wow, I love that answer. And, you know, I love that you referenced The Healing Organization, because often, and I even write about this in my book, because I also really studied systems, you know, the organizational system of a company, but also the system of a human body. I think of myself as a healer, for business and for organizations. And I'm always brought in, when there is a massive imbalance, there is a dis-ease within the company that I'm being asked to intervene and solve for and create the pathway for healing. So and I feel like, you know, in the remote hybrid, distributed workforce that we are evolving into Learning and Leadership Development, are going to be so important for how we communicate, how we innovate, how we collaborate, how we stay engaged, and I'm just so excited to see how Verb you know, is able to be part of that new future of learning. Suzi, it's been so delightful to have you. I will leave you know, links to you in our show notes. How do people get in touch with you and stay connected? Suzi Sosa 54:12 Yeah, I'll share with you my email address and then certainly on LinkedIn, and you can follow us at Verb, but I would be happy to connect with anyone who's listening and wants to chat. Thank you so much for having me. It's such a treat to be able to talk about these things with you. Carley Hauck 54:29 Oh, likewise, thank you for your authenticity. Thank you Suzi. As always, our conversations are so nourishing and love your bold humility and deep authenticity. If you have questions or want to connect with Suzi, please use the link in the show notes to reach out. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, families or colleagues, we are all in this together and sharing is caring. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like me to address on the podcast, please email me at support@carleyhauck.com. I would love to hear from you. And if you enjoy this episode, again, please write a positive review on your favorite podcast listening platform. Thank you for being part of this community. And until we meet again, for season five, be the light and shine the light.

Be the Change: When you care about social impact, but your company doesn't with Bryan Breckenridge

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2021 53:26

In this interview, I am joined by Bryan Breckenridge, the head of social impact at Snyk and proven social intrapreneur, a builder that thrives at the intersection of corporate and nonprofit mission fulfillment, maximizing social, environmental, and economic returns for all. We talk about his passion for contemplative practices such as meditation, and how he cultivates his inner game of resilience and well-being by spending time in his body, and the beautiful hills of Marin County. Bryan speaks to his early beginnings at salesforce.org and why social impact is important to him. We also speak about his feelings regarding the recent sixth UN IPCC Climate report and he talks about the intersectionality of social impact commercial scale and climate strategy to reduce carbon so that business operations can be more responsible. Bryan gives recommendations to leaders in businesses who want to align with the ESGs now, the short term, and the long view to create incentive structures and systems that align with more social and environmental responsibility. Tune in to this inspiring episode today! SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Resources mentioned in this episode: Bryan Breckenridge Watershed Climate Nine Tips For Being a Male Ally Bryan's Four Journaling Buckets Bryan Breckenridge at LinkedIn The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck, your host of the SHINE podcast. We are in season four. And I have been loving all the interviews in the last several weeks and we have two more to this season. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things: conscious and inclusive leadership, the recipe for high-performing teams and awareness practices. I am facilitating three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our topic today, I would love it if you could go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button. This way you don't miss any of our incredible interviews. And if you love this episode, which I hope you will please write a positive review or share it on your favorite social media channel. It helps so much. Thank you. Our topic for today is how to create a social impact strategy for purposeful organizations in business with Bryan Breckinridge. Bryan Breckinridge is the head of social impact at Snyk, and we talk about his passion for conscious and contemplative practices such as meditation and spending time in his body, and the beautiful hills of Marin County. These practices support a strong and resilient inner game so that he can lead himself, his family and his team well. Bryan has spent over 20 years at iconic Silicon Valley companies like Salesforce.org, LinkedIn, Box and Zillow. He has helped them weave positive social and environmental impact and nonprofit networks into their core company operating models. He is a proven social intrapreneur, a builder that thrives at the intersection of corporate and nonprofit mission fulfillment, maximizing social, environmental, and economic returns for all. In this interview, Bryan speaks to his early beginnings salesforce.org, and why social impact is important to him. We also speak about his feelings regarding the recent six UN Climate report. And he talks about the intersectionality of social impact commercial scale and climate strategy to reduce carbon so that business operations can be more responsible. Even with small and private companies like Snyk, who really care. Bryan gives recommendations to leaders in businesses who want to align with the ESGs now, what they should be thinking about in the short term and the long view so that they can make significant changes and incentive structures and systems that align with more social and environmental responsibility. Bryan is a person that embodies conscious and inclusive leadership. And he has been an important ally in my life in this past year. I am so excited to hear how this interview impacts you, and your leadership, business and life. Thanks for tuning in. Carley Hauck 03:41 Hello, Bryan. Thanks for joining the SHINE podcast. Bryan Breckenridge 03:45 It is my pleasure. Great to see you. Carley Hauck 04:00 So one of the first questions that I asked folks that join the podcast is what does conscious and inclusive leadership mean to you? Why is that important? Bryan Breckenridge 04:05 I think that it's important because if you're doing the work that is authentically destined to you or if you know that you're leaning your full being into what you do, then you certainly grow the most from it. And you're most impacted personally and then you impact others the most. And then the other things like flexibility and autonomy and impact and an earnings and recognition and the other things that come along with doing the work you know you're meant to do, do come along as the result of being conscious or being mindful in the way that you kind of aim your career and the way that you work with people within that career and the way that you lead in that career. Again, you're authentic or you're kind of remaining rooted in what you know is true for you is the vital first building block of that. Then, in the interrelationship pieces, or the emotional or psychological or relationship or pieces of leadership or collaborating, if you're showing up as your fullest true self, then those around you feel permission to do the same, and you get the furthest in what you're collaborating on. So I think consciousness brings you back to receptivity to your truth. And then if you're if your action agenda or what you're actually doing is based from that space, then not only do you show up, able to do what you're meant to do more, and be more successful with it, but also welcome other people into that space, in that same way, then you get further with them as well. So that's just my thought about the conscious part is that you do what you know you're meant to do. And you can feel that you can't fake that, you have to feel that. And that's what happens for me in this. And then when I lead, it's like, give others the benefit of bringing their authentic truth and self to things and then collaborating from that space, and then your truth and their truth mingle instead of these other, you don't have to do the rest of the math. It's just you know, your people are showing up and being truthful about what they're, what they're doing. And then, of course, you can add the skill sets and, and the parameters and the frameworks on top of that, but you have to start there. Carley Hauck 06:18 Wonderful, thank you. Yeah, I refer to that part in my book, the inner game of authenticity, which I know you've read. And so yeah, I hear you saying it's really aligning with my truth. And then having my actions correspond with that, and then inviting that from others. No doubt about that. We're able to bring our whole sometimes messy, sometimes best selves, right? Bryan Breckenridge 06:45 Permitting it, allowing it, inspiring it like that's absolutely right. And those bumpy days, those hard days are maybe the best days sometimes because then you start with wanting to be rooted in the truth of what you're doing together or individually and then you can bring each other back to that line and bring on another back to that concept. My team always sees the messy sides of me as well as the polished sides. And the organized sides and the formulaic sides and also the messy, creative side. So like both hemispheres of the brain and all different sides of my personality, but I think that always helps in the end. Carley Hauck 07:25 Wonderful. Yeah, well, tell me a little bit about your trajectory, and why social impact matters to you. Bryan Breckenridge 07:33 You know, I grew up in a tiny town in the Midwest in Kansas, and I would do service projects as a kid and jump out of the back of pickup trucks to recycle paper around the town with my friends in the scouting organization I was a part of and it always just felt amazing. Even though it was hard, sometimes on a weekend morning to be out doing that I just for some reason, I just knew that the feeling of doing it was so exciting. And riding in the truck with no, you know, seatbelt or anything, as I'm sure exciting to do in an open in an open truck. I mean, it was a crazy time for sure, back then in the 70s and 80s. But I just felt good about it. And when I went to college, I was among other members of a Greek organization. And I was the philanthropy chairman of the House that I was in. And so it gave me this chance to like be the person that was creating social impact among, you know, like parties and sporting events and all the things that we were doing during college. So it was an interesting thing that I think was a kind of a precursor to what I ended up doing in my career, which was starting a business and volunteering in companies that appreciated that way of leading, but then it was like, wait, I can actually do the work that I really enjoy. Not only at the company I'm at but I can actually lead those aspects of a business plan and the business strategy as well, which are social and environmental programs. So it all just kind of comes from, again, that original feeling that just felt right. And it's just like the world keeps moving me toward that. So kind of creating these unlikely marriages are these unlikely bedfellows per se, of, of you know, like philanthropy and an environmental programming with corporate business plans is again it's back in the day. It wasn't quite unique. They were in two very different parts of the school campus. But now they're merging, thankfully, after all this time. Carley Hauck 09:22 Wonderful. And you had a start with Salesforce correct in their foundation? Bryan Breckenridge 09:32 Yeah, I started out on the business side of the field sales territory. Just when I came back from a trip in India, I was in India for two months, all volunteering internationally and further exploring some of the Buddhist traditions and Eastern philosophies that my brother had introduced me to. He studied those at Princeton when we were both in our undergrad so when I graduated, I came out of it with a meditation practice and an awareness of what was happening in the eastern part of the world and then went to visit there and volunteer out in the martial Pradesh. In the rural parts of Northeast India, just below the foothills of the Himalayas, and went to Dharamsala and a number of other places. But that really made a big impression on me when I came back, I started at Salesforce and was able to really talk a lot about that because the culture at Salesforce really championed and supported volunteerism, and, and service and so on. So it's just really nice to come back and get to celebrate it and not have to hide that I had just spent two months doing that. And it felt like those early days on these boy scouting trips, like picking up those papers, I was like, wait, this feels good. And I don't speak Hindi. But I was embraced by these small villages and communities and worked in the schools and community centers of those talents for a couple of months. I knew I had to keep doing that. So then when I started at Salesforce in sales, I immediately set on a beanbag my very first day and became a steering committee member of the Salesforce Foundation and helped shape what it would become that those kinds of those two trajectories emerged together the Salesforce Foundation, contribution and strategy help and my day job was selling. But then I did a lot of volunteering, they all started to come together. And I joined the foundation part after about seven years there and different local and global jobs, and brought that business side structure and network to the foundation and helped them with their plans. After seven years, yeah, and just stayed in that kind of area since then. Carley Hauck 11:20 What were you able to see in those seven years? Salesforce happens to be one of the companies and Marc Benioff is one of the leaders that I highlight in the book as one of the conscious and inclusive leaders that are really aligned with being a force for good in the world. Bryan Breckenridge 11:38 Yeah, just to see us from the very beginning, holding Mark accountable to a lot of what we knew, came very naturally to him growing up and in his life. It also, I mean, this was when the company was, you know, enough people to sit in a small conference room. That was all of us all the employees as I was probably there less than 100 or somewhere thereabouts employees. And so it was always me in the back of the room, among others. There were a few employees for the Salesforce foundation already that were kind of growing up alongside the company. But I would always before I could even get my hand in the air Mark would say like, okay, Bryan, I know you're gonna ask me a question about the Salesforce Foundation. And in fact, we are making some grants this quarter or we are going to hire two more people. Okay, enough questions about that? What other questions do people have? I was a squeaky wheel for the Salesforce foundation back when it was almost more of a dinner party than a company at the very beginning. So that was pretty cool. And we were able to do, you know, a lot of yoga with Mark just in conference rooms on a weekly basis. And then he and I had always kind of broken out and talked about different breathing exercises and, and different things that were keeping us grounded personally and all this interesting stuff. So it was a very intimate time in the beginning, but it certainly has become a huge huge conglomerate now. But yeah, it keeps a lot of that purity in its guts as well. Carley Hauck 12:53 Lovely. I love just hearing that that was your kind of origin. Bryan Breckenridge 12:58 Yeah. Yeah, it was really neat to be texting with with Marc Benioff back before he was kind of Marc Benioff, if you will, about about, you know, our meditation tendencies and and what we wanted to see business turn into together and, but it was kind of neat too, because when he wrote his first book, Compassionate Capitalism, I'm quoted all through that and Karen Southwick wrote it rest in peace poor gal died of cancer honest, but in the middle of her next work, which was about the healthcare system, and how hard it is to navigate the head for that for people that are sick, and she was keeping from us that she actually had cancer and she was terminal. But when we lost her it was it was kind of sad, but just the fact that I was a part of projects like that was really, really, I think some part of my career's legacy is just to have kind of made some of these dreams possible for for some of the, I guess the early concepts of what a company could start to do, like the salesforce.org, Salesforce foundation work is, is something I'll never forget. And it's definitely neat that I got to weigh in on some of the early you know, ideation and some of the early proof points that it was going to be something special. Carley Hauck 14:00 And definitely I can see has impacted you in the roles and the way that you show up with companies, even your even your current role. Bryan Breckenridge 14:09 It just helps me kind of write my own job description when I've seen the possible and I've helped initiate the possible so then you go to a new group who's eager to learn about the possible but they haven't felt it yet. They haven't seen it work yet. And then you, you get in there and for me, now, I've just done this enough at enough companies that within 90 days, they can see like 20 ways that this stuff is really powerful, and it becomes exciting. They can't say no, and it starts getting written into the business plan and the reporting and the marketing and culture and everything else. So kind of fun, but again, it's just that awareness of having been there. Like once you've really seen it right? Once you've really felt the sunset. It's just like, you know, you love what, you just you've been there, you've tasted it, you've seen it. And that's the way I am with corporate social impact. I'm very bullishly optimistic that it can be a big force for change. You just have to be in the rhythms of the business and not just in the rhythms of the philanthropy. You know, aspects of the entity To you, and if you can do that you can create some scalable change in the world. Carley Hauck 15:04 So tell me more. Tell me, tell me more about that aspect that you just brought in, where it's very much integrated in with the C suite. You know, it's a high priority, how are you able to lead the vision and strategy for that in your current role as head of social impact at Snyk? Bryan Breckenridge 15:24 Yeah, it's, it's, it's ever interesting, because I would say that in the day, like five years ago, eight years ago, 10 years ago, we would people would do work, that is intersectional, like me between impact and, and commercial scale, would would quickly hire people to mobilize the employees to volunteer, and that would be the proof point that it's like, oh, okay, this, the culture does appreciate this. And it's great that this is organized and trackable and, and can then create some real goodwill for us and some good leadership momentum for people. But I find now that if, if you're in a business that's eager to do some of this work, and you're in there for a few months, instead of the first area of emphasis being, you know, really employee volunteering is that proof point, you're wondering whether or not you can get impact into the OKRs? You know, where the two moms are the strategic plan of the company quickly, and the planning cycles, right? So you really want to find out quickly if there's a receptivity to including the work you do, and the monthly and quarterly reporting for the business, like out of the gate, and that's, it's tougher, it's a bigger lift. But I think it's early. A lot of us that do the work that I do would again, think Oh, great, can we solidify, you know, $50,000 in budget and set up a volunteering program and really hope that that then catches on from here, it's less about that now. And it's more about now being an operating model, instead of a project or an operating model, instead of a department or an operating model, even instead of a program. That's, that's across the company, it's actually an operating model, it actually needs to be really baked in. And of course, that means one of the top five or six or seven objectives of the company needs to have impact at its core. And then every activity and process and product and strategy can link up to that. I could go on but it's neat that we're past proof points now. And now we're in this quid pro quo for people like me who enter business and say, Okay, listen, like, is this something that can be a part of the core operating model? And have every bit of, you know, the company's intellectual, technical and financial and cultural sort of heft behind? And if the answer is yes, then you keep doing it and you make magic. If not, then you, you create a really great program that's good for those that get involved in the occasional blog post. But you don't, you don't change the world, you don't make the impact that you need to, for, for, for the social and environmental things that you're solving for, but also for the business, because there's a lot of proof that's that shows companies that are traded on the on the exchanges outperform those if they're aligned with ESG, over those that don't between 15 and 20%. So you do see the financial return, you know, the business or fiscal return is right there. It's just as the other stakeholders when they're included at the table and how you do it is strategic, scalable, and differentiated. A bunch of recent Harvard Business School stuff about it, too, it has to be differentiated, you can't just check the box and, and hang a volunteering program out there. If it's not even in your cultural nature to do it, it doesn't help at all, it actually hurts. But if the company authentically wants to go make a difference as part of its business, and it has things that do themselves bring material value to the environment, or to communities then or nonprofits or whatever you decide to focus on with your theory of change, but but it can make a difference in business to make no mistake every time Snyk impact gets exposed to parts of this neat company people get energized, make no mistake. Carley Hauck 18:45 Well, I want to take it in a little bit of a different place that relates to your role. So before we restarted the recording of the call, we were talking about the present state that currently where you're living in Marin County, you have smoke in the air. Bryan Breckenridge 19:07 And a red sun sitting in the sky. Sticks in ashes on the trunk of or on the hood and trunk of my car. I'm looking at it now, the smell of a campsite, a faint campsite smell in the air. Sacramento had 50,000 acres burning yesterday. There's a small fire right at the 101 highway four miles from our house on Forest Hill yesterday that they had to fly over and put out, it stopped traffic on the one on one. I mean, this is a tinderbox in Red County, even just two miles from the coast. Right? Carley Hauck 19:32 Yeah. Right. And it's one of my favorite places in the world. It's incredibly beautiful, all the open space, but it is also as you said, like a fire hazard because of all of the incredible nature there and I lived in the Bay Area for a very long time and you know, saw it getting worse and worse and worse. And this seems to be from my recollection. It's like the sixth Here, where there have just been major fires for prolonged periods of time, and they keep getting earlier. I remember the first one really starting in October, then it's like September, August. Now, you know, it just keeps coming a little earlier, these mega fires are lasting longer. And this relates to the UN sixth climate report that came out the week of august 9. You know, speaking very loudly, we have some big problems here. Our world is on fire, houses on fire, and systems and structures have to shift now. Yeah, and so I, I know, I have had a lot of thoughts and feelings about that. And it was one of the real motivations for me and spending four years to write my book, to try to be a light for what is possible, we can't see it, you know, kind of like what you were saying, but how is that weighing on you? What's the impact of that report being that you're a father, you've got kiddos, you clearly care about this space? Bryan Breckenridge 21:04 Yeah, it's, it's significant. And I didn't, I didn't know I took some meteorology classes and a little bit of science and undergrad, I didn't specialize in the areas that had me reading the scientific journals about, about expansion of carbon and, and sea temperature rise and so on, like, I wasn't steeped in the in the verbiage or the the School of that. But in in adopting, in my role at Zillow leading impact, we we did lean in to some of the early climate decisions or whether or not to go out audit and other other aspects of that, and that that had me interacting with the consulting community that serves the corporate structure on audit and remove and, and, and more and more on offset or, or invest in reduce or extract carbon cycles, and then certainly the marketing and other things that that need to be disclosed in, in kind of the current environment. So so this is to say that I started to take on the responsibility of the climate aspect of the corporate entity more in my in my previous role here at Snyk, where we're a carbon neutral company from our business behaviors and in 2019, meaning we invested in some offsets in an audit last year that covered the year before as business getting us carbon neutral. Now, looking back on a year where there wasn't as much travel, we still know that we've got some offsetting to do. But now we're looking at how do we systematize the notion of audit within the strategy to bend and reduce what might just be spin, but also how's SPM a more responsible company, even as a small six or seven or 800% company that we are around the world? Already progressively thinking about it? How do we automate the audit? How do we get the data in a good place even as a privately held company that's not yet required? This is very voluntary, per se. Because we have 20 or 30 employees passionate about it, even some of our investors and board members are passionate about it. You can even hear as I'm conscious of my voice speeding up in my excitement level increasing it's, it's, it's it's an urgency that I've not yet felt. But it's also a hope, because I think for the first time, I'm seeing even the climate discussion, not just living in this small little closet of one of the rooms of the company, metaphorically speaking. You know, maybe the facilities team who's looking after the energy bills has been asked to keep better track of those. Now I'm seeing the CEO and the founder speak to this and care about it. I'm seeing it woven into the foundation of the home, the floorboards of each of the rooms, meaning the departments, the processes, even the auditors and the compliance teams. So I'm, I'm really going on and on here and being verbose. But Zillow showed me this was something we had to care about. And mind you, they had 300 million people coming to their websites that have homes or are trying to find homes. So I knew Zillow needed to step up their game in this space, because they could educate owners of the built environment per se, but a could do to keep us from burning up within a couple of decades. But now though, I'm just in a small sort of tech company, that's fast growth. We do affect 28 million developers, if we get this business plan right, already have hundreds of millions, or excuse me, hundreds of 1000s of developers using our technology. Carley Hauck 24:20 And so I think to even bring the edge of education out and show the modeling of what you can do so you can influence so many other companies change. Bryan Breckenridge 24:24 We can't just sit around and be scared. We have to take action. And I do think that the corporate structure is a good way to do that. And I am feeling momentum in my own role. So I know that's true of hundreds of my peers that do this work and other companies. Carley Hauck 24:39 Thank you for listening. We are at the Midway mark of this powerful interview and I'd like to take a minute or two with you just to bring our attention inward towards our body. Breathing in, breathing out, bringing our shoulders up and down. Maybe doing a little shake, a wiggle standing up. And I'd love to share with you. My passion for learning and leadership development, and why hiring for skills versus training internally is going to be paramount to the future of business. Learning and Development is going to continue to play a pivotal role in building a future fit workforce ready to respond to what's next. And as we've learned in this last year and a half, we don't really know what's coming, the uncertainty and complexity and ambiguity is going to continue. And it feels like the future of work will require digital skills, soft skills and transferable skills. And instead of hiring for those skills outside of the company, it feels important that we train and build internally so that we don't have this lack of engagement. And team members and leaders looking to go elsewhere. They want to stay because they know that coaching and mentorship and Learning and Leadership Development will be available right where they are. I have served mission driven leaders and businesses in the last 10 years including LinkedIn, Pixar, Clifbar and company, Intuit, Bank of the West, high growth startups, and many more companies in their learning, leadership development, and culture. The trainings and the skills that I have focused on emphasize the whole person. And they focus more concretely on the inner game, or otherwise known as some of these power skills, or what some may say, the soft skills. But these skills have had everything to do with being a human centered leader and workplace. And this is really, what we're seeing is needed. Now. These are leadership competencies, including self awareness, growth, mindset, effective communication, empathy, resilience, change management, agility, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence. Organizations that prioritize having a workforce with finely tuned power skills. And what I talk about in my latest book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World we'll be in a much better position to survive and thrive in the next normal. If you're interested in learning more about how to upskill your workforce and leaders for the remote hybrid model of work, and that unconscious and inclusive ways of leading and learning, I would love to support you. And you can set up a free consultation with me, the links are in the show notes. Okay, back to the interview with Bryan. Carley Hauck 28:22 This is taking it to a more spiritual piece. But one of the things that I think was so interesting about the fires, and of course, they're affecting the entire world. But there was such an intensity that they've happened in the Bay Area and in the North Bay, where Silicon Valley is where there is so much influence on so many of the industries of the world to make change. And I almost feel like there was a real reason for that to keep putting pressure to keep waking people up. But we cannot be asleep to this. Yeah, and, you know, sharing with you before the call, but um, I've been an adjunct faculty at Stanford for eight years. And within my first semester, there was this one day event called Connect the Dots. And it brought in some of the most well known climate scientists together and they were sharing with us the science at that time. That said, we had 10 years. And so you know, we're right on track. But it's such a big thing to digest to take into account that I think a lot of people numb out, or they go back to their consumption patterns, which is why we're in the problem that we're in. And so I, I feel the gravity of the next couple years, like, yeah, we have to get emissions down by 50% in the next decade. But we have to make those changes right now. Because patterns take a while to change. Yeah. So, you know, being that you're a lot more knowledgeable about esds and how to make these shifts and structures. What would you advise companies that want to make a commitment to social impact to social and environmental responsibility to do now? Maybe there's a couple steps. And then I'd even love to hear like, what do you think is most important one to two years from now knowing that we need to make really important decisions now, but we also need to look at the long view. And I know I'm asking you some because a lot. Bryank Breckenridge 30:27 It's a lot and I certainly didn't, like build a bunch of preparation for the answer I wish that I could, but just from the heart, I think that entrepreneurs, meaning, you know, the the leaders of millions of companies and and other types of organizations, need to look at the the main incentive structures that they're following the operating structures, meaning their business models and plans. And then also the funders, the regulators, and the operators, like if you really think about these, these big tools of incentive and behavior, somebody helps you fund a business, somebody does a business, right, and then somebody regulates it and creates laws. So I think the biggest picture issue is kind of like reinventing a lot of these incentive structures. I know, it's really heavy to talk like that. But you know, more and more investors are starting to get carbon audits of their portfolios. So they know of all the companies they own, or that they have money in, which of them are the biggest polluters, which ones are responsible, and which ones aren't. And they're able to, to move some serious influence into those entities. So if the flow of capital influences changes the regulatory environment, like the SEC, the chairman of the SEC, just announced in the last few weeks that even private companies may have to disclose their carbon portfolio by the end of the year. And that you can go. Carley Hauck 31:57 I love that you can go quickly. Bryan Breckenridge 32:00 So it's gonna become regulatory before we know it is attractive, your interior optional, the transparency of it exactly. And, I mean, I think it only cost us $6,000 last year to look at the year before from a carbon audit perspective, and look at the scope, maybe one, or maybe one, two, and three, but lightly at minimum scope, one, and a little bit of two emissions. So not the entire value chain, we weren't out doing customer interviews to find out how many hours they're on their phone using Snyk technology, and like mapping it all the way down to the last. But nonetheless, you for a very small amount can audit what your current footprint is based on revenue, employee size, number of buildings, how much travel you spend, and whatever, like you can get there fast. And as that's required, you're going to see that get easier. There's lots of startups- Watershed Climate comes to mind. They're they're offering, the tech tooling, the consulting, and the sort of practices that you'd need to measure, to reduce, to offset and to kind of disclose and communicate what you're doing. If you wanted to implement a climate program your companies small, medium, or large. Carley Hauck 33:03 I'm familiar with them, we'll drop a link in the show notes. Bryan Breckenridge 33:05 Great, I love what Taylor is working on. I'm a big fan of their work. But that's all to say, if the SEC says you have to, we need people to help us get there quicker. And they're kind of one of a lot of organizations that are making it easier for people to not have an excuse. So again, regulators and the funders, but then the operators that have the business plans have to include responsibility, or whatever you choose to call it, impact whatever outcomes for financial stakeholders and the earth and people and communities into the core of the business plan. It can't be a hobby, it has to be the main the main, it has to be at the table, the main table, it can be at the kids table in the other room. Carley Hauck 33:45 Great, thank you for sharing that. I also feel that you know, as we're navigating this new strain of the Delta variant and it's, you know, pushing back offices opening, I see that as a blessing because as climate change continues to be here, it's not going away until we can really shift things to stabilize. We're going to have to be more remote. Bryan Breckenridge 34:13 And there have absolutely been days when the skies were dark orange here last year, and I know you knew it, because we met about that time or somewhere abouts. There's no way I was going to get my car and go to the office that day. I mean, the skies were dark, dark, like jack o' lantern orange at 11am. I mean, it was a complete horror film outside because of all the fires that were there. It was like a smoke dome over the top of the entire western part of Central Northern California. And that was a work from home moment like that that was affecting, I would imagine that affected millions of commuters that day alone, just in the same way that COVID is affected people's patterns and where they work. The climate environment. Same thing, there's no way you're going to go into a city if you're in the AQI, whatever it is, the air quality index is so so dangerous that you can't even take an inhale on your way into your office. Carley Hauck 35:00 I was in Bend Oregon. As you know, for several weeks on Alastair, yeah. And just a few days ago, they were 400 AQI but the smoke has shifted, but with the Dixie fire, it's gonna be back. Bryan Breckenridge 35:20 There's my brother's getting ashes rain on his cars in Denver from the west coast as the as the as the plume travels into the jet stream and drops down like this signal this, this is no longer just a just a passing thing. This is every year recently, right? Carley Hauck 35:34 Yeah, yeah. And, you know, what I think is really interesting, as we look at the impact that climate change will have on all of us worldwide, it's so much bigger than COVID. So my desire is that climate change will take the news versus COVID, you know, because that I think, has to be more front and center. Bryan Breckenridge 35:57 And so this was the hottest July in the history of recorded science, 142 years, or whatever the number is. And you can bet everybody in those European floods, or everybody in these fires we're experiencing here knows this stuff is real. And so you know, beyond that, it's, again, how do you then take action, and I'm not trying to be overly resilient, I feel the fear, I feel the pain I'm not, I'm not just blocking it out. But I know that if you just sat and got worried and didn't take action, then we will get rolled over by it. So at least, at least there's lots of great minds that are now converting the last naysayers or the last deniers. And now it's really time to get our homes and houses in order and are our incentives in order. And every company that I know that has recently gone public, or is about to or will be has been public five or eight years now it does at least have an office that's advancing these programs. But that still means there's many millions of companies with their own level of influence and power that need to get their act in gear and get moving. Right. But at least again, it's better than it's better than the built environment in the corporate world, especially the refining and extractive industries and so on. Like that is the biggest culprit. I think we all know that. And so those are the areas where you just kind of look at the landscape of what can you change, quickest? And what will have the biggest impact. And I just hope that we as a civilization prioritize correctly. I mean, I'm trying to be a symbol of that at one company, but there's millions of companies. So it's, it's hard. Carley Hauck 37:28 There are. And you had mentioned in references before that when companies are more aligned with social and environmental responsibility, they perform better, right, they, they have more profit. And that's been shown by the research again, and again, again, but also the younger population, the Gen Z-ers, the millennials, and I posted this on LinkedIn a few weeks ago, but it's also research that was tied in my book, climate is like the number one concern that they have. And they will take a pay cut, to work for a mission driven company that's really trying to make a positive impact in the world, because they know this is the future that they're inheriting. And they want to create a sustainable, flourishing future just just like we all do. Bryan Breckenridge 38:17 So it's truly amazing. Snyk as has its share of younger or earlier, tenured folks, and they are incredibly passionate about the work that I've begun in this room's most recent opportunity professionally. I did a survey of about 600 of our employees. And this was a 12 minute to take survey, it had 30 questions with 90 total responses required with nested questions. I left and I know this is audio only as you can see how the gun is filing right now. But I literally asked 600 people to take a 12 minute survey, which is unheard of in tech, by the way. I mean, if it's two questions, it's too long. And 325 of my colleagues at Snyk answered that survey. Carley Hauck 38:54 Amazing. Like I'm a researcher. Bryan Breckenridge 39:04 So I have the results. I'd like to share with you the methodology because a survey is terrible. But the executive team wrote it with me, it wasn't just my own thing. And we put it out there and got 325 answers, and it will guide our decisions and our budgets and how we build this program, you know, for years to come. Carley Hauck 39:16 Amazing. You know, Bryan, I also know that you feel really passionate about allyship and you know, diversity, inclusion and belonging. And I know that's a core commitment at Snyk as well. But when I think again about the climate crisis, and DEI, like they're so interrelated, right? The more we can show up and invite all perspectives, all voices, all worldviews and experiences. We're going to be able to collaborate and talk openly about these challenges and these complexities that we actually all have to solve together. Right? Bryan Breckenridge 39:51 Yeah, it's really true, I think the mechanics of inclusion and inclusivity and equity and belonging and creating diversity faces where it doesn't exist where you see a lot of homogeneity is hard. But the same way that the climate discussion though it shouldn't be so hard. And not everybody has ash on their hoods. So it's not as real to everyone. But for people that have been othered, and people who've been shut out, and people who haven't been able to unfold their full self and their professional or social environment, the pain is real, and the pain is acute, and the pain is visible, and there's no, there's no, there's no choice for you know, for those folks, but to have a dialogue, even if it's uncomfortable to try to make progress through that, or then or, or you just have to give up. And the same thing applies to climate. Not everybody feels that not everybody's in northern Cal, or the pathway of the recent flooding or fire-nados, or all the other things that are hitting the earth, tsunamis, earthquakes, whatever. And so it's, it's helping the people that aren't super well versed or maybe don't feel it everyday, that still have to have that, you know, that intense sort of allyship perspective, or that felt empathy or that that even like learning through awkwardness and humbleness, that will will make this change, especially those where it's voluntary, or those that carry privilege and could just stay behind the wall and not, not walk among the people that that are that are, you know, underrepresented or disadvantaged, which is it's a shame. But fortunately, people are reaching across the aisle and all these things. But we have to be the drumbeat of giving permission and inspiring people to do it. I mean, that's definitely tied in very closely to Snyk impact. On the social side, we've talked about the environment. The social is make our organization more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and fostering belonging, but also do that with the software development industry, and the app security industry. And that's a bullishly, large, audacious aspiration revision, but that is where we're headed with Snyk impact. We want the developer community to be inclusive and diverse and are already proving that we can start to make steps there that I think other companies will start to follow. Carley Hauck 41:57 Yeah, I mean, you know, as we've seen, historically, tech companies have a much higher, you know, dominance of male to female and other, you know, races and whatnot. And I do believe that that's starting to change, but it requires a lot of, you know, invitations, and advocacy and sponsorship. Bryan Breckenridge 42:20 So another area that won't be voluntary for either forever either, not to say that there'll be a required commitment for gender and racial mix among standard jobs, tech jobs, senior jobs, Junior jobs, I mean, all of those kind of vectors that, that SAS, B and GSI, and G, RI and gd. All the others are out there, right, the UNDP SDG impact framework. I mean, there's a bunch of frameworks, right, but a lot of acronyms, yeah, a lot of acronyms. But most of those are saying like, hey, it'd be great if you did this, because it's going to be good for your business and good for your culture and good for your people. But it's still voluntary, you know, so it'll be interesting as you start to see the carrot and the stick up here. They're in with the climate and see what behavior change comes from that. I don't know, I'm still optimistic. Carley Hauck 43:08 Great. Well, I can talk to you all day. talk again, soon. We're just recording this one. So this is fun. But I want to actually leave you with two more questions as we wrap up. And, you know, we're talking a lot about how to deal with uncertainty, ambiguity, volatility. And I know that you have a practice and various practices that keep you resilient, and, you know, leaving from your authentic truth and caring deeply. And I'm wondering what those are that you could share with people and maybe like, what has even been the rocks during this very turbulent time of the pandemic? Bryan Breckenridge 43:55 Love to love to it, it helps to marry an executive life coach that's successful and knows her stuff, because you just sit and listen to what she does all day. And then you, you heal. And that's, that's my wife, Amanda Breckenridge, next door here. And so that, that I say in jest, but I also mean, it's like, it's great to be in a partnership where you can be your full self and you can be safe. That's all good. Yeah, that aside, it is not that aside that that end, I do think there are practices that help you, you make it through these turbulent times. For me, I typically put a little black dot on my left thumbnail, as weird as that may sound but but when I was traveling in India back in 2001, my thumbnails were painted black on that trip to India, and anytime I really want to come back to like the purity of my intent. You know, I just see that thumbnail and I'm like, Oh, yeah, that was 2001. I was in India, in complete uncertainty and complete ambiguity and no language overlap. And we're surviving in a village For my first time outside of North America ever, and so, it was a reminder that as long as you really do bring, like honesty and truth into the universe, the universe can take care of you. And so that little that little mark on my thumbnail reminds me to come back to my authentic self. But I also think that journaling has been my true superpower. And I journal every day, almost without fail. And I journal in the areas of my, my soul, or my practice, or my, my kind of the, the intangible pieces, right, like the mind, like almost the values of how I'm living when I'm checking in, and then I and then I, secondly, check in on my, my social relationships. And then third, I check in on my capacity, meaning my, my mental, physical and spiritual health and capacity to be in my life. And then last, I think about impact and action and my plan to execute on that. So rooted in values, supported by family and my social, spiritual friends life, my tribe, per se, capacity to be my best self each day healthy and so on and balanced and centered, that then absolutely in in action, and in an intense way, also. So those are the areas I check in, in my journal I did. I posted about that on my LinkedIn profile A while back and tended, if you want to see that, that journaling, kind of built an exercise in there that I do every day. Carley Hauck 46:28 So lovely. Well, I know you have a real love of the outdoors in nature, which is part of the reason that you live in Mount Vernon County. And I would imagine that when the weather's like this right now, that's challenging because that's, that's a part of your practice. Bryan Breckenridge 46:44 I'll get out there and fight AQI until it's way up. Even if it slows me down for a few days after a big trail runner a big hike. But yeah, nature is is absolutely healing their their bill Plotkin books, you know, soulcraft, and so on sitting all around this house, and they, and we're glad they're here, because I do think nature informs us anytime we get off track, you just tune into nature, and you'll come back. Carley Hauck 47:06 Yeah, I agree. It can be a real refuge. Well, thank you. That's really lovely to hear. And it's been fun. I guess, I guess the last question that I would ask you is what is giving you hope right now, we've talked about some, some difficult things, but what I hear in you is you're not bypassing it, you're feeling it, you're journaling about it, you're trying to figure out how can I be part of the change? How can I act with inspiration, with heart? So what is giving you hope? Bryan Breckenridge 47:37 I think that that anytime I get super worried about the future, or get worried about what we're doing, you know, as an economy as capitalism as as a civilization on a planet that's heating up, I do, I do think about the concerns I have for my kiddos, which are four and 15. But I also see in them, just like so much hope, and so much, so much sort of like of all things action my daughter does work with with Surfrider my, my end is really taking to science and her high school life. alongside her sports my little boy is is just like, so eager to be in his garden in the backyard and, and just like learning about flavors and and learning about like by nature and and, and, and just feeling all of that. So I have so much hope that they're going to sort of remain hopeful and remain sort of active and not not let this thing steamroll them. Same for my generation, of course, but for the kids. Like, as much as I want to make change for them. I just see a lot of hope in them. And I think they're like you said earlier, they're super committed, you know, to being better about all of this than we are in Gen X or whatever we are. Carley Hauck 48:56 Yeah, I I see resiliency and a lot of kids. These days, I don't have kiddos, I actually really chose to write the book instead of having kids, because my nephew when he was four looked at me and said, Auntie Carley, will you help me save the oceans? There it is. And I thought how am I gonna do that? I think I'm back and see if I can help people wake up. But yes, but you took it on? Yeah. And I see so much care and empathy in him and even in my niece too. You know, it's like a girly girl but totally gets gritty and is okay to like, fall down and get back up. And it's, I see that too. Bryan Breckenridge 49:40 Yeah, I get inspired by the generation and I get inspired by all these entrepreneurs that I meet now that are mobilizing like their brains and their networks for solutions instead of just like, personal gain solutions for the greater good. Yeah, it's amazing to be in rooms with entrepreneurs with massive influence that are really really making material change in areas that you'd hoped they would. And they're not just doing it for, you know, for the press pop, they're doing it because they know that their power can in fact affect the machine and not just the accessories that hang on the ends of the machine. And that's when you can change the wiring you can really change the trajectory of Oh, right now is pretty dire. Carley Hauck 50:23 And going back to what we started with that authenticity piece, that inner game of authenticity, it's so important that we listen to that and we say yes, and I think that's one of the things that the younger generations do. They speak up when they don't like something and that is so needed because silence is complicity. Bryan Breckenridge 50:45 So it is and even my little tiny crazy four year old I we since he was a little bitty kid have when he's just like really worked up just said, Hey, baby, what about Ah, and that became his, like, he hears that sound now and you can just see a shoulder drop, you know, you can just see, you can see him drop in, you know, even just like in the middle of like throwing sand and like going crazy is like baby. Ah, it's just like, I've kind of trained him now where you know, no matter how crazy he's been, he'll just be like, oh, Dad, you're right. Ah, ah, we're doing all the right things to kind of give it some resources. Carley Hauck 51:15 I love it. Self awareness equals self management. Bryan Breckenridge 51:24 Resources at four, can't beat that. Carley Hauck 51:26 Yeah. Wonderful. Bryan, this was so wonderful to speak with you and hear your thoughts on this. And for folks that aren't seeing Bryan, Bryan has a light, a light that he emits. And I noticed that the first time we met and Ah, oh. So thank you for being the light. Bryan Breckenridge 51:50 Yeah, my pleasure. Carley Hauck 51:52 Is there anything that you'd like to leave our listeners with how they might get in touch with you or anything? I took six months off before Snyk and I built this personal website for the first time ever. And it's just Bryanbreckenridge.com and and all the people I'm supposed to help in my life are, are sort of, put there and if you're one of them, let me know. And you can get in touch with me through that website Carley Hauck 52:20 Lovely. Thanks, Bryan. Thanks for your time. Thank you, Bryan, for your time for your commitment to conscious, inclusive leadership. I loved hearing about the social impact efforts that you and Snyk are dedicated to. If you have questions or want to connect with Bryan, on any of the topics that we spoke about today. Please use the link in the show notes to reach out to him. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We are all in this together. And sharing is caring. If you have questions, comments or topics you would like me to address on the podcast, please email me at support@carleyhauck.com. I would love to hear from you. Thanks as always for tuning in and being part of this community. It means a lot to me. Until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

Water Stewardship: Create Necessary Alliances in Leadership and Business with Greg Koch

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2021 114:55

How we take care of water is a necessity. Water is a finite resource- we only have the amount that we have. Water is life. We are 70% water. Water is spiritual, it's healing, it's cooling. It's beautiful. And in this interview, I speak with my friend and colleague, and water protector and sustainability expert Greg Koch, about the nexus between food, water energy, and our consumption habits and limits on our resources. For example, how many greenhouse gases can we put in the atmosphere? How much debt can we tax our economy? How many limits can our planet take regarding tin, aluminum, Tesla batteries before it's too much? We speak to our current environmental crisis of climate change. We bring attention to the topic of water stewardship and how we can all be more environmentally responsible as individuals and businesses. In this episode, you will learn that all water problems are knowable, solvable and affordable. We actually have enough technology and data to be able to solve for the water problems, but it requires that we set up a conscious and inclusive environment for water. Greg Koch is a globally recognized leader and technical director at Environmental resource management (ERM? with over 100 countries in water resource management, community and stakeholder engagement in conflict resolution. Greg also excels in sustainability strategy, sustainable development, adaptation and resilience and related policy and finance. SHINE Links: Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Resources mentioned in this episode: NY Times Article - “A Hotter future is certain: How hot is up to us” NY Times Article - “How much hotter is your hometown than when you were born?” Creating 21st Century Abundance through Public Policy Innovation: Moving Beyond Business as Usual by Greg Koch and William Sarni Greg Koch on LinkedIn The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck. Welcome to another episode of the SHINE podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. I am offering three episodes a month. Before I tell you about our topic today, can you go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button. That way you don't miss any of our incredible interviews. And if you love this episode, which I imagine you will, please write a positive review, or share it with friends and colleagues on your favorite social media channel. It really helps. Thank you. Our topic for today is water stewardship: create necessary alliances with leaders and business with Greg Koch. One of the reasons I began this podcast in May of 2019 was due to all the research I was conducting for my new book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. The podcast came about due to my desire to bring education, awareness, and then to inspire calls of action to be the change as individuals and business so that we together could solve some of our greatest challenges. The biggest challenge that has been a large motivator for me personally and the reason why I wrote my book was climate change. I had been following the science for many years, and as a result began teaching on the intersection of leadership and spirituality, and consciousness so that we could be more mindful of our consumption. And I brought that into so many of the work that I've been doing with different leaders and businesses. So this episode is about water stewardship. As our world becomes warmer, July was the hottest month in recorded history. Glaciers are melting, our oceans are becoming hotter. And all the marine life is struggling to flourish. How we take care of water is a necessity. Water is a finite resource we have the amount that we have. Water is life. We are 70% water. Water, spiritual, it's healing, it's cooling. It's beautiful. And in this interview, I speak with my friend and colleague, also water protector. I'll call him Greg Koch, about the nexus between food, water energy, and our consumption habits and limits on our resources. For example, how many greenhouse gases can we put in the atmosphere? How much debt can we tax our economy? How many limits can our planet take regarding tin, aluminum, Tesla batteries before it's too much? We speak to our current environmental crisis of climate change. And the most recent IPCC climate report, which is the sixth report. We bring attention to the topic of water stewardship, and how we can all be more responsible and how we consume how to take responsibility as individuals and businesses. In this episode, you will learn that all water problems are knowable, solvable and affordable. We actually have enough technology and data to be able to solve for the water problems, but it requires that we set up a conscious and inclusive environment for water. Greg Koch is a globally recognized leader with over 100 countries in water resource management, community and stakeholder engagement in conflict resolution. Greg also excels in sustainability strategy, sustainable development, adaptation and resilience and related policy and finance. He is a lead consultant at ERM. We all have the responsibility and opportunity to be the change. Listen to one of my favorite SHINE podcast episodes ever. Carley Hauck 05:10 Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining the SHINE podcast. I feel delighted to be here today with my new friend and colleague, Greg Koch, thank you so much for joining. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Well, I know that we have a lot of really wonderful things to speak about. And one of the first questions I'd like to ask you is, how would you define conscious and inclusive leadership? Greg Koch 05:39 I first say that it has become paramount to my work. And I feel a hallmark of the success that I've had, and that success has always been collective with communities and inclusivity. But first a bit of history. I'm originally from Germany, an educated and trained engineer. And so for the first 10 years of my professional life, things were very direct, very quantitative, very objective, I had the opportunity to leverage those skills, and to begin to have a better understanding of water issues around the world, and water being so local, and so emotional, and I don't mean emotional in a pejorative sense, emotional baggage, not that there's anything wrong with even that. But what I mean is we people are tied across all cultures to water in ways that are fundamentally different from lots of other sustainability issues. We're tied to it spiritually, even religiously. Everyone needs it, everyone has a stake in it. And you could see where I'm leading is that when you step into a watershed, a community, for whatever reason, you're motivated to work on water solutions. You realize, at some point, hopefully, early on, that all that water is being shared by everyone, and that everyone needs to be a part of understanding the challenges and being a part of the solution. And so inclusive, is a fundamental prerequisite, of trying to address serious water challenges. And so I have grown. That was a beautiful answer. Thank you. So where does consciousness come in? And I'd say obvious, well, not perhaps not obviously. But they go hand in hand, in that, when water is stressed, we could say this for a lot of stressful or challenging situations. In addition to including everyone, because you need to solve the problem, and this was the hardest thing for me to do. And that is to be conscious of their perspective. And their perspective, their demands, and have to be accepted. Because no one's using water for the sake of using water, you use water because of how fundamental it is to your life. So whether you're a mother, or a corporation, or the environment, you have to put your mind in, in a way that appreciates the perspective everyone has. And accepted at face, you don't have to agree with it. But if you're not consciously trying to understand those different perspectives, and help people understand yours, then you don't have the first step towards inclusion. Inclusion isn't just bringing everyone together in the same room or the same field, particularly around a challenging topic, and then maybe more so for water. You have to understand the different perspectives and accept every one of them at face value before you can take that inclusive environment and try to work towards a solution. Carley Hauck 09:40 Thank you. Well, and Greg, one of the reasons that I was so excited to have you on the podcast to share your experience and your passion and your expertise around water is because as you're saying, you know we all need it, to survive. It's fundamental. I mean, we're 70% water, right. And it is a way that we are all gathering, so to speak, to use the same resource. And when we're looking at the greater picture, which is people and planet, and that's our motivation for how we're leading for how businesses, hopefully solving for some of these larger problems that are impacting people and planet in a more negative way. That's, that's really leading with more consciousness. And I know that you're based in Atlanta. And just to kind of bring this to some of the things you were speaking to in 2019, I went through Al Gore's Climate Reality leadership training, which happened to be in Atlanta. And what was so wonderful about that training, and the trainings that he does is that he really focuses on the region or the area of where that training is. So at the time, I was living in the Bay Area of California, but I came to Atlanta, and there were 1200 of us from all over the world from all over, you know, different parts of the country. But the speakers, and the focus was on that area of Georgia, of Florida, a little bit of North Carolina, and what was going to be impacted in those areas by climate change, because it's different all around the country. Like right now, I have relocated to North Carolina, where there's a lot of water right now, you know, we've had different storms come through. And I'm actually temporarily in Oregon, in Bend, Oregon. And it has been so incredibly dry. And it was in the high 90s to 100 degrees for the first few weeks that I was out here. And just recognizing how people are adapting and struggling with the difficulty of that. And so that kind of brings us, you know, back to sustainability and your passion for this topic and why you've actually chosen to hone in on water. And so I feel curious, where did that start? How did that begin? Greg Koch 12:27 Well, it started with my engineering background. And at the time, I had moved from engineering, consulting to work for the Coca Cola company. And initially, my work was, you know, inside the four walls of the business. So water efficiency, water use, storm water, wastewater management. But over time, myself and Coca Cola began to have a greater appreciation of the challenges that the business was facing, but also the communities that they were a part of were facing. And that led to 15 years of maturity on my part where I transformed myself into someone who not not just focused on water, but focused on solutions. And what drew me to that is two things. You led the Global Water stewardship program? Correct? I did, while I was there, for a period of time until I left their great company and they still have a wonderful water stewardship program and many other things. I am really proud of what I did there, and happy to work with other clients now in my consulting role. But back to why water. two fundamental reasons. The first is water, there's a danger in thinking of water in the binary litany of sustainability topics. So you take major sustainability crises around the world, including the United States, you have safety issues, you have disease, you have poor education, you have social inequity, you have air pollution, you have excess carbon emissions, you have waste and litter. Right. And so you're marching down this litany of big challenges. And what they all share in common is that the desired outcome is less or none of those things. Right. So they're all bad disease, child labor, forced labor, pollution, and the desired place is well, we need to reduce or eliminate that. And the danger when you get to water is to keep that binary thinking that's not true with water, water. Yes, there are places it's being wasted. And we can talk about that. But in a sense, you really can't waste water, not at least at the global scale, water is a finite resource. It's infinitely renewable, we have the amount we have. And the other thing is that, beyond that non binary nature of it, it's largely, most people look at water, and they have a positive opinion and a positive experience. You bathe your child, you, you bathe yourself, you go swimming, you go sailing, you know, most people have this daily visceral connection with water, that's a positive one, most people's first memory of water, learning how to swim, you know, at Grandma's lake house, or whatever the case may be. And so at its heart, water is a positive, right. And you could extend that thinking at a higher level to say, well, Water is life. Alright, we're 70% water, you don't want to reduce your water footprint, you'll get thirsty, then you'll dehydrate, and then bad things will happen. And when we look for life, there's a lot of things that life can use. But we always look for water, whether we're in Mars, around the moon, or wherever, because we know how fundamental it is. And that's a positive thing. So that's one reason that makes me so passionate about water. 16:45 The other is that while there are lots of different forms of water stress around the world, all of those are solvable. First of all, they're knowable, they're solvable, and they're affordable. And you cannot say that for any other sustainability challenge that you have enough data and enough technology today that is affordable, and can be implemented. Carley Hauck 17:18 I love that. They're knowable, they're solvable, and they're affordable, affordable. Well, I'm gonna ask you some more difficult questions. Yeah, sure. Yeah, go ahead. Greg Koch 17:30 No, I mean, that, that that says at all, so when, so but so what's the crux? What's the crux that the Kruk is the crux is first, to set up that inclusive conscious environment that respects everyone's need for water that's inalienable and understands their perspective on why they need or want the water they want? And what condition and at what time to then be able to introduce solutions, whether they're technological based or process and policy based. If you have that enabling environment from the beginning, then you're never going to lack for Well, let's pull this technology and let's make this regulatory change. Right. There's still challenges around getting agreement and getting agreement on the timing. But one thing I like to say about water solutions is the soft stuff is the heart stuff. Right? So hard stuff, meaning infrastructure, pumps, pipes, technologies, hard stuff, meaning reservoirs and collection systems and even data, right? That stuff's easy. I mean, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, I mean, humankind has been capturing water, storing it, moving it and even treating it for 1000s of years. And yes, we have better ways of doing that today. And there's still room for innovation. But there's enough technology and data out there. So that's not the hard stuff. The soft stuff is the hard stuff, the soft stuff being How do you build an inclusive, conscious, enabling environment that respects everyone's need for water, and seeks an equitable outcome, and then allocates the funding, which is completely affordable, compared to a lot of the other challenges that the world faces, whether you call them sustainability or not. Carley Hauck 19:40 Great, great. Well, I'm gonna bring it back to water. But I want to bring it to another conversation that you and I had talked about a few weeks ago where we were talking about climate change. And I was naming it as probably one of the largest complexities that we as humanity face and you challenged me and said, You believed that climate, one of the biggest problems related to climate change was population growth, economic development. And we could even think of resource scarcity as part of that. And I'd love just to hear a little bit more from you on that topic. Greg Koch 20:23 Yeah. Well, I'll go a step further and say that while climate change is real, is serious and needs attention at a much accelerated pace than the world has done today. It is not the biggest issue facing the world. Let me explain. First of all, in summary, there are many challenges that exist today that have existed throughout most of human history are getting worse, and will continue to get worse in the future, independent of a changing climate. Climate change is a force multiplier. And you can say, yes, it's the biggest issue facing us today because of the urgency in solving it. But it doesn't make it the biggest issue short of existential, existentially meaning, if we all went extinct because of climate change. Well, then, of course, but when you look back, and really take climate change out of the equation and say, What is the challenge the world is facing? Yes, it's being driven by population growth and economic development, more people with better lifestyles, less poverty, less infant mortality, those are actually all good things. But what has happened today, and what I think the biggest challenge is, it's called the Nexus, the nexus between food, water and energy. And it all is underpinned by this concept of limitations, right? So the world is bumping up against a lot of limits. One of those limits is how much greenhouse gases we can put into the environment and not cause global warming. Okay, so that's climate change. That is certainly one of the limits that we're facing. But we're facing limits in terms of how much air pollution beyond greenhouse gases, how much water pollution, how much arable farmable land there is, how much government debt and personal debt, those are also limits. Right? There's limits on other resources, such as phosphate, tin, lithium for all of our cell phones and Tesla batteries and things like that. Those limits are being approached or even exceeded, and they have been getting there independent of climate change, they're getting worse, even as climate change is happening. And solving for climate change isn't going to solve those limitations. You can design it such but why is that such a big challenge? You could say, well, I have solutions to water pollution or food security or what have you. But because we're approaching those limits, the solution for one of those can cause problems for the other two. Right? I'll give you an example. If you're in the United States, and you have a car that uses gasoline, you can see it right on the pump up to 10% ethanol. That's a government mandated and government subsidized program. And it all centers around corn production to make industrial grade ethanol. 15 years ago, there was hardly any corn for ethanol in the fuel supply in the United States. Now it's close to 60% of corn that's grown, goes into ethanol production. Okay, that's a renewable fuel, decreases our dependence on foreign oil is cleaner. So you say, Oh, that's a good thing. Well, you've solved a single variant. you've provided as a single variant solution in a multivariate problem, meaning let's grow more corn and make ethanol for all the good reasons that that that can be considered. But what has led to it's led to a historic rise in the price of corn. You don't see it and I don't see it because I can't if I ever bought a bushel of corn, you know, you buy a couple years of corn or things with corn. Corn derivatives in it. But that price is really high. And, and then you've also created water stress in places that you would think are water abundant, like Canada, a lot more acreage now being put under the plow to grow corn to meet this ethanol demand. And now you partly solved an energy problem, while causing previously non existent food and water problems. And so that nexus of those three, in a world where we're facing those limits, to me is the biggest challenge. Carley Hauck 25:41 Thank you. I wanted to actually ask you about another problem as well, I was recently reading about how Lake Mead is drying up, and it's over allocated. And Lake Mead and the Colorado River apparently, well, they're created for melted snows that pour and flow from the Lipitor pass in the Rocky Mountains. And then seven western states really utilize that water for their, you know, for their water needs. And so those states are California, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada and Arizona. And then there's also 29 tribes and Mexico that are also depending on that water. And apparently there have been some successive treaties that have been signed on how much they're going to receive an S us from the river and the dams. But those agreements are expiring in 2025. And when we have such low water, like, how are they going to renegotiate that? Who's going to get what, and then we know that California is in a huge drought as well. And so it's just it's such a complexity, how we're going to solve for that. Greg Koch 27:03 It is. And there's two things to recognize, from a historical standpoint, and from a reality standpoint, that make a solution on how to allocate what little water there may be even more difficult. The first is the allocation scheme, both international treaties and individual and multi state agreements about how much water each person can get, or each state can get from the Colorado River were negotiated, let me check my dates 1930s 1940, somewhere around the time where the Hoover Dam was built that created Lake Mead. I'm not getting the dates exactly right. But that was based on historical snowpack measurements that assumed that that would be status quo going forward. Well, the droughts we're seeing today, again, let's Park climate change over here, but I will bring it back in. There's a lot of scientific research. But early indications are that what we're seeing today, what we saw in California, back in 2014, what we're seeing today throughout the West, that that's actually normal conditions. And what we based all of our planning on was a period of time that we had records for, that just happened to be abnormally wet, and snowy and colder. The reality is, if you take all that away, and you think northern Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah, Southern California and Nevada, those are deserts. Those are extremely arid areas, yet we have millions of people living, we've got tons of agriculture, we have Las Vegas, right? We have all these things that only can be there, because we've captured and allocated over allocated and are diverting all that water. If it wasn't for that manmade intervention, those places would remain scarcely populated, not being farmed, and they would be very dry. So it's artificially enabled because of what we did, in terms of moving water around and allocating it. And now we're seeing that that allocation and those beliefs were probably based on a historically wet period, and what we're seeing today might be the norm. And so where does that lead you? Carley Hauck 29:51 I wanted to make just one extra comment because I think it's interesting. I read this other article in the LA Times that was speaking to the drought of California and apparently because there's been such little rainfall, normally Northern California would have I think enough water coming from the Sierras. But right now Southern California actually is doing better with the allocation of water, because it's coming from a different source as you were talking about the storing of it. But historically, you know, Southern California has less water, because as you said, it's more of a desert climate. Greg Koch 30:31 And so it's interesting that California, of all those states, you've mentioned, actually has priority rights, you know, when the government has to start, and they already have, and they will continue to limit the allocation for the other states. California's agreement doesn't expire, I think, until the late 2030s. So other places will not get enough water, maybe no water, and California will get water. So those communities will see that water flowing by knowing that it's headed to California, only because of the way the contracts and agreements were repent years ago. Carley Hauck 31:08 And I also just feel curious, not that you should be the end all know all of water, but I'm in Oregon right now. And what's interesting is that it is incredibly dry here. I mean, I went to the Oregon coast, just for the weekend, because I just needed moisture. And the Deschutes river is this incredible river and there's lakes all around, bend where I am, but it is so dry. It feels like such an interesting juxtaposition. And I know that it's lower, the water is lower here than it has been in a very long time. But it feels so interesting that they can both be like the climate can be so dry. And yet there's a lot of water here visibly, because it's coming from glaciers. And I feel curious, you know, half the state is very wet, or again, and then where I am right now it's a desert. And so I guess I feel curious, like what do you think about Oregon as far as how they're going to fare with water? Greg Koch 32:14 Well, I think Oregon and the states below it, and above it, that whole western United States corridor, the conditions you're seeing today might be what over a long period of time are normal and everything that we've experienced in the couple 100 years that we've basically been the United States before native peoples was that was abnormal. Right? And so where does that lead you? I started going down that line earlier. If you were in the middle of the Sahara Desert, you would never say, hey, there's a drought. Now, it's just always like that. So you could see, I could see a point where you have to stop calling the conditions that you're facing in Oregon and California and all those a drought. Maybe that's just the way it is. That's the climate that you have, and you're not in a drought. You just happen to live in a very arid part of the world that used to have this brief period of a few 100 years where it was wet. How does climate change come in? in a major way, okay. You're wet in Oregon and a lot of that to glacier melt. They can only melt to a point where they don't exist. And that's happened around the world. But when you look at the models, particularly for those Western Rockies, right the Cascades, the Uinta mountains down into Utah, this year, Nevada's climate change models all call for there to be more precipitation. Now I use the word precipitation, which you know means snow, ice or rain. But that precipitation because of warmer temperatures is going to come in the form of rain versus snow. Right? So glaciers, the Sierra Nevada snowpack, think of those as Lake Mead. Those are huge reservoirs that build up through the winter and then slowly melt and release that water over the spring and summer and into the fall. But if even more precipitation falls in the winter, but it comes in the form of rain, there's no storage for it, it's just going to run off and ultimately end up in the Pacific. So that's a big problem. That's a big problem. You could have wetter winters, but still have greater water scarcity because you don't have that natural reservoir of the snowpack, the snow and ice pack. slowly melting Carley Hauck 35:00 So we're talking a little bit about water scarcity on the West. But then what do you see happening on the East? With the, you know, with more hurricanes and tropical storms where there's a lot more water, but then how do we store it? Right? Greg Koch 35:17 Yeah, I'd say the biggest problem in the East and and it also exists out West. So it just compounds the problems that you have is infrastructure, water infrastructure. So think of water pipes, bringing your drinking water, sewage pipes, stormwater drains, 99% of that is out of sight, to underground and out of sight means out of mind. It's not sexy, it's not, you don't want to see it. Right? You just assume 3am. I can walk into my bathroom, turn the tap and get clean drinking water. I'll flush the toilet and it's all taken care of? Well, the average age of infrastructure in the US is about 75 years old. It's underfunded, it's under maintained. It's underpriced in terms of the tariffs that are collected. And there's a lot of reasons why it's under priced that way. But that is leading to a problem. Can we maintain the level of service that we've experienced and been able to grow our economies and populations with this crumbling infrastructure? Carley Hauck 36:34 And I'm wondering if you know, part of what you talk about in your your book that you authored, creating 21st century abundance through public policy innovation, moving beyond business as usual, does that pipe some of the responsibility on changing the system and structures so that we are able to actually innovate around how we're storing water and how we're implementing all of this? Greg Koch 37:06 It does. And it provides some real examples of how you can even improve, not just maintain, but improve the level of water, infrastructure and service and be able to afford it. There's several different approaches that me and my coauthor William Sarni detail in the book, but staying on the theme of infrastructure, let me give you an example that I think shows you the type of thinking. So you recall earlier I mentioned waters underpriced in most places in the United States, you pay a very small amount for water. And there's a lot of pushback if water rates come into being or go up. So why is that? Well, back to the beginning of this discussion, you know, water is emotional, it's spiritual, it's, it's to human right? It's inalienable. And when you bring that thinking into a municipal water system, and there's parallels in water in nature, water and agriculture, but let's stick in urban areas. You run into danger. It's like if water is a human right, how can you charge me anything for it, let alone more for it, it falls from the sky. You can't lease the rain, you can you know, it's, Hey, come on. It's water, human rights should be free? Well, I'd say it's up to governments to decide how much they want to charge customers, particularly the underprivileged, that, and I think they should solve for that. And there's a great example of how that's done in South Africa that we can talk about, but here's the problem that they're facing, they're confusing. And therefore people are confused. Government is confusing water, the substance from water services. So when you buy electricity, when you buy your gigabytes for your Wi Fi in your smartphone, when you buy gasoline for your car or diesel, right, you are buying a substance. You're buying electrons, you're buying radio waves, you're buying gallons of gas. You can't see them, you don't think about them. You don't want to see them in terms of gas might be a safety issue. You never think about, I'm buying a substance yet look at your bill, you are being paid for an amount of electrons called kilowatt hours, gigabytes of data, those are radio waves effectively electrons, you are paying for a substance. And of course you're paying for however many gallons or liters of gas that you buy. But you don't think of them in that way. You think of those as services. I'm buying more lighting, security, convenience, I'm buying entertainment. I'm buying connectivity. I'm buying mobility, right? That's how you think of those substances you buy, you think of the services that they enable. And one of the things that we talk about in the book is that mind shift needs to happen for water. Water- the substance- at your tap is free. But who's going to collect it, move it, treat it, pipe it chlorinated, chlorinated, and get it to your tap, and then do the opposite with your stormwater and wastewater. All that infrastructure, costs, money, takes labor, chemicals, energy, those are all services. And if you add up the true cost of all those services, your water bill should be about what your electricity bill is, yet it's a 10th a 20th. of that. And that's led to these infrastructure issues being underfunded, because of the confusion of the substance versus the service. So the latest UN, IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report came out, and it's dire. Some people are calling it the final warning to humans. It shows that a lot of the early predictions are being manifest. And that time is running out if it hasn't already, on some drastic level of climate change, global warming and the implications that that has. 42:12 I experienced what they're forecasting firsthand a few weeks ago at a family reunion. And most of us live in the southeast United States, I'm in Atlanta, it's hot and humid. Others are in Sarasota, or Charlotte. And so we purposely chose a place in the mountains out west, east of Seattle, thinking we'll be on a river, it'll be nice and cool. Maybe sleep with the windows open at night. The lowest daytime temperature in the eight days we were there was 94. The highest was 105. And everyone says Oh, but it's a dry heat, which it was. But that didn't make 105 degrees any less comfortable. Add to that for about three days, during the middle of that vacation. There was smoke in the valley that we were in from wildfires that were nearby. And that made it almost impossible to go outside. You know, we had, we'd started saying, okay, when it's really hot, we'll just try to do everything before noon and then just relax or float in the river or what have you. But then when you add wildfires and the smoke around that, then the air quality is such that you really you're just inside and it's no big bummer. Right? And so you know if that's climate change, and that's going to happen more often. And for longer durations in places you wouldn't expect. And we did not expect that they're certainly the 105 degree heat, then that's a cause for alarm. So what to do. And and it's a segue into how I help clients in this regard. So when you look at the UN report, it's based on a lot of complicated models, and it takes a global view. And yes, that view can be disaggregated at the local level. But that's still just a zoom in on a global model. What's more useful to people, to communities, to companies in the different places that they operate, is saying, Okay, alright, I get global warming, but I don't live all over the globe. I live and work or manufacture in a certain place. What do the models say is going to happen in that place? And that's a level of analysis that you can start with the global models, but you have to do a lot of sophisticated calculations and modeling to try to determine what the boundary of the local area that you're looking at is, how it's being influenced by these global changes, to try to come up with a forecast of what is this valley? or What is this community? or What is this region, at a local level going to face? That's much more useful to people, you know, if you were planning for water supplies, or droughts or increased heat, then knowing that, you know, the world might warm 1.5 to 4.5, or greater degrees centigrade, really doesn't help you particularly if you think in Fahrenheit most Americans do. But so that's the global average, what does it mean for me, in Asheville, or Atlanta, or Seattle. And so that's part of what we do that we find is very helpful to clients because it gives them that local view. And then they can share that information with others, which we encourage, to say, look, we're all going to face this situation, what can we do collectively? Carley Hauck 46:19 Now, I also appreciate you sharing that I don't recall if I shared this with you. But it might have been one of our previous conversations in March of 2019. I went through Al Gore's Climate Reality leadership training, and he does a few of them a year all over the world. And he picks regional, you know, in geographic areas, and my training happened to be in Atlanta. So he was very much focused on bringing in speakers that could speak to what was happening in this, you know, southeast area, and how flooding is going to happen here. And this is going to happen here based on all of the science and even though at the time, I lived in California, I was still part of that cohort of 1200 folks, and because I grew up in Florida and have family in Florida, it was helpful. And it was helpful regardless. But I think, to your point, you know, how does this affect me, right? Because most people are very self motivated, versus some of us that are more altruistically motivated, but at the same time, you can hold both. And so I feel curious, in your work, how are you supporting clients? And what's a typical client that you might serve? Because I know your area is water stewardship? Greg Koch 47:47 Well, it's water and climate. Yeah. And so one of the ways we help clients is translating those global models and projected impacts of climate change to the local level. My clients are typically larger, multinational companies, a lot of them are in the consumer goods, business, or industry. So Procter and Gamble, Unilever, companies like that, but I also have clients in the oil and gas sector in the renewable energy sector. You know, really wide pharmaceuticals, really a wide area. And so when it comes to climate change, the first place we can help them is having a granular understanding of what's going to happen, where they're located. And that's usually multiple locations in terms of their manufacturing plants. So okay, here's global climate change what's happening in these 20 or 30 places that leads to more meaningful responses on their part, to prepare themselves for the coming change. Now, you say, Well, what are they doing to prevent the change? And there are a lot of clients, a lot of companies in general around the world are setting targets to reduce their emissions. That fuel they directly burn on site or in their vehicles for their say distribution fleet. They're trying to reduce emissions in the electricity and energy they purchase, trying to buy from renewable sources of energy versus fossil fuels- Or to do carbon offsets or to really know how effective that is in the long term would be better if we weren't emitting emissions anyway, right? Yeah, my feeling on carbon offsets if they are, quote unquote, gold standard, then yeah, carbon. The carbon footprint of the world is being reduced but that reduction might happen on the other side of the planet. And I heard a quote, an analogy that I like, it's like buying a carbon offset credit is like, going for a run in Atlanta and having somebody in Iowa take a shower for you. Right? I think it can help, but it kind of excuses what you're doing.and puts it on somewhere else. At some point there aren't going to be any more carbon credits, and people are going to need to actually reduce their own emissions. Carley Hauck 50:36 I love that. You just said that. Thank you. Greg Koch 50:46 Yeah. Now, company setting goals is expected, is welcome. I help clients do that. But I first asked them, 'What are they doing to advocate for government change?' Because, you know, the UN report for climate change, rightly belongs there, this is global warming, global climate change, and the scale of the globe's climate isn't going to be solved by any number of corporations making reductions in their emissions. That's good. That's welcome. That'll help. But you're going to need government, governments, global governments, the UN and individual governments at the state, federal, local, you name it level, to make some tough decisions about changing the way we produce and use energy. And they can incentivize that which they have with subsidies for solar and wind power, they could tax it in terms of a carbon tax and a trading scheme, which exists in many parts of the world. Fossil fuels, and that's gonna be extinguished. But the point is, you know, be while you set, you know, I tell clients, while you set goals for your own business, how are you using your voice? Right, you know, that that's your footprint? What about your blueprint? Right, what are you doing, to advocate for the right policies? And I find a lot of clients actually welcome that right now, there's a lot of uncertainty. You know, let's take the United States, for instance, is the Biden administration going to come up with a carbon tax? Or are they not? And if they do, which industries would be subject to it? And how much would that tax be? Is it enough to mitigate climate change, so on and so on, that's a lot of uncertainty, that you can sit around and wait to resolve itself. You can advocate for that change, right? In fact, a lot of businesses say, look, I wish you just to remove the uncertainty and say we're going to tax carbon at $25 a ton, starting in 2025. And it'll be a level playing field, people can incorporate the change that's necessary and embedded into their business model. And yes, costs get passed on. But it removes the uncertainty because what you're left with now, is largely a altruistic fear, or investor driven push for companies to set these targets, you know, for a company to say, Look, I'm gonna get off the grid and produce all my energy by solar wind, some renewable form, fine, it can be done, and some have done it. But it's almost impossible to ever recover those costs. So they're doing it because of fear of climate change, of reputation of investor pressure, maybe other stakeholder pressure. That's great. But that's right off their bottom line. And so, you know, I always ask them to have my clients and we thought about advocating, you know, whether you do it yourself or you do it through a trade association for your industry, or at some level to say, this is a problem, climate change, we want a solution. And us setting our own little goals will only get the world so far. So that's really how I advise clients on climate change. Carley Hauck 54:42 Thank you. I don't know if you can speak you know, to this specifically, because I'm sure there's a confidentiality clause but you mentioned that one of your companies that you've supported as you knew every multinational company, and they're known as a company that really is more aligned with ESGs, you know, environmental, social governance and and creating more of those commitments and I'm seeing, and I'm grateful to see this shift is that companies that are making, you know, millions, billions of dollars like Salesforce, Amazon, they're giving a certain amount of their profits towards, for example, climate change I believe in. I wrote this in my book, January 2020. Bezos at that time, this was right before the pandemic awarded $10 billion towards climate change now, how that is being distributed, how it's being regulated? Who knows, where's it going? You know, since then Amazon has done incredibly well, in the last year and a half. And so I haven't seen the targets, but I know that there are more checks being written. And so you said to advocate for government, but if government, you know, isn't cutting that money, or isn't making those changes, I do think that there is a responsibility and an opportunity for business to be a force for good, and to utilize their voice, their influence, because a lot of government officials, you know, tend to be elected through money that might, you know, lobbying that might be coming from businesses. And so I think it's kind of all combined. What do you think about that? Your perspective? Greg Koch 56:38 You have to appreciate the scale of government versus the scale of business. Right? So a lot of people might say, well, businesses should just bite the bullet and donate half of their profits or 100% of their profits to some cause. Let's say that's climate change, since that's the most pressing crisis we're facing. Now, when you look at the scale of business versus government, it is not apples and oranges. It's apples and hammers, the scale of government is in the trillions and 10s of trillions of dollars, the scale of business is in the billions of dollars. And there's a big difference between a billion and those three more zeros to get to a trillion. In the book I co authored, I took the top 1000 corporations in the world and their annual profits for the year that I analyzed, and said, Okay, how much is that profits? That was about $800 billion. So almost a trillion dollars. And so if the top 1000 corporations gave away all of their profits, 100% for 10 years, what do you have, and I equated it to the problem in the world around safe drinking water access. And that amount of money. You know, there's a lot of people in the world who don't have affordable, reliable access to safe drinking water in their homes, all over the world, including in Georgia, and North Carolina, and, of course, many parts of the developing world. So that's a goal within the Sustainable Development Goals. There's a goal number six, which is all things related to water, and a sub goal within SDG. Six is safe drinking water, that amount of money over 10 years is enough to solve just that sub goal. Right. So that calls for the top 1000 corporations in the world to take 100% of their profits for 10 years, which is kind of unrealistic. But even if they did that, that only solves part of one of 17 SDG goals. So to say that companies ought to donate more. You can say that, but if they donated everything, it wouldn't be nearly enough because the scale of government is so much bigger. I mean, just take the United States, for instance, Congress now is debating and probably will soon pass a five and a half trillion dollar budget, excess budget, to do all the things they want to do, including parts of the New Clean deal and things like that. That would be all of corporations for five years and all their profits just to come up with that but governments have that scale. And so it doesn't excuse philanthropy and direct corporate action. But it's sort of a red herring to say, well, business should do more. There's only so much they can do. And if they gave away all their profits, and they all became charities, it's nowhere near enough money to solve the problem. So that's why I say, do what you can give what you can as a corporation, but also use your voice to advocate government to make the tough decisions that are needed. Carley Hauck 1:00:30 That's really wonderful. It's a three fold action sequence, just to summarize what you said. So it's advising businesses to bring climate change into their operations? How can they lower their carbon emissions? How can they really reduce them, not just have offsets? How then do we also take some of our profits, and really align with social and environmental responsibility in giving to maybe help with some of the sub goals of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, because I think, again, more is better than none. But then to really advocate for the government, and to, you know, put some pressure on some to hold some accountability for the government to do the wise and good thing for all. And not to get into politics very much at all. But you know, our last president denied climate change. So we are behind the mark on a bigger level. And, you know, we we have some, I think, very important shifts and changes that we need to make right now, you know, in the next couple years, there is urgency, because if we are to reduce our emissions by 50%, in 10 years, which is what they're forecasting, so that we have a chance for humanity to not have this horrible suffering, like you were experiencing just a small bit on the west coast. When we had our first conversation, several weeks ago, I was in Bend, Oregon, I was there for six weeks. And the entire time that I was there, it was 93 to 108. And I have, I felt like I was baking from the inside out. Bend is a beautiful place. But I really couldn't enjoy it because I was so tired. And so exhausted every day. So it's, yeah, it's real. And, and then I'm back here and, you know, and outside of Asheville, which is kind of a temperate rainforest, and it feels like a jungle. And they're just such different climates. And this is a bubble. Like I'm very aware most of our country does not look like where I am. But that's why I landed here. From the fires of the Bay Area 10 months ago. Yeah. So anyway, long, longer tangent there. But let's talk a little bit more about water, if you're open to that. And also thank you for the book that you wrote. It sounds like a really wonderful contribution. I have not read it yet. But we will be sure to leave a link in the show notes for people that want to learn more about that. It sounds like such a huge undertaking to be able to analyze and understand what's really happening. Greg Koch 1:03:38 Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, so water. As we've chatted already, water is under a lot of stress, and that stress is growing independent of climate change. Right? So you can argue about climate change all you want. Flint, Michigan, and those problems with lead and drinking water had nothing to do with climate change. Right? The lack of safe drinking water to almost 4 billion people around the world has nothing to do with climate change, right? So there are water quality problems, lack of infrastructure, water scarcity, droughts, floods, storms, all of these things exist today. And climate change is making them more unpredictable, more intense, and and have greater duration. And so water, right you know, climate change is a shark has been often said than water is its teeth. So there's a lot of reasons for business. And therefore my work with my clients to look at water, in conjunction with or even independent of climate change, which is more of a sort of a future type planning but even today, there are problems. Now, what I find is that most businesses in the clients I work with, but even in general, they do a really good job of managing water in the four walls of, say the factory, right. So they bring it in, they pay for that. They use it efficiently, they look for ways to reuse it. They treat their wastewater before they discharge it, and they manage stormwater that falls on their property, right? And that's table stakes, they should do that. And they need to always do that. independent of regulations. And by and large business does a good job with that. Where I come in, is where we see that clients are exposed to more water stress in the watershed, and communities that they're a part of, we help them analyze that water stress and determine what impacts that could have on them. And that's a big aha, for a lot of clients, because it puts them in two mindsets, and that's always my goal. And when I achieve it with a client, I feel really good because I know some really good things are gonna happen in that community and watershed. One, you have to get them to truly appreciate that water is a shared resource. They are sharing that water, with their neighbors, with nature, with other industries, even their competitors, of course, with people all around them wherever they're located. Right, it's not their water. It's not someone else's water independent habit, our government may or may not sort of manage it, but water is shared. And so when you recognize that water is shared, that means if it's under stress, you're going to have to work with those with whom you share that water, in partnership to address issues, right. So one leads to the other. The other big aha, I aim for clients to achieve is to understand that water is transient, right? It's you know, get some water and put it in a bucket and put it in your room and say I own that five gallons of water. Well, good luck. If you do nothing, and you never tip it over and a dog doesn't come in and drink it, it'll eventually all evaporate, right? Water is heavy, water likes to move, water is in a continuous cycle. And you know, that's a, that's a very easy but illustrative example to say, you don't really own water, it's transient, right? It's going to come into your home, your body, your factory, your ecosystem and move on somewhere else. And so what that leads to, along with this shared concept is the concept of stewardship. Alright, so stewardship is defined as taking care of something for a period of time. So a shepherd stewards the flock of sheep, for instance, right? Shepherd may own the sheep or not, but they'll move on eventually into something wool or die of old age or, you know, other things. So it's a good analogy, because it says, Okay, I have to take care of this water. And it's water that I share. So you get these two concepts. I'm sharing this, and I have to steward it while it's in my control at some level. And when you achieve those two mindset changes, I find that it's very powerful for companies to then say, Okay, well, I know what water stress issues I'm facing. And I know how to solve them at the end of the pipe and my four walls, but that's not going to solve the problem. I'll have to continue throwing money at it. The problem is still getting worse. It's impacting my employees and where they live in that community. It's impacting maybe my customers, maybe my suppliers. It's impacting my neighbors, people that share this water with me. So, yes, I ought to do things in my own control. But since I'm a steward who shares that water, I seek partnerships, the local government and local community, NGOs, peers, even competitors And that's the big aha. And it leads to some really exciting types of projects and partnerships. Carley Hauck 1:10:09 Great. Let's bring it to the consumer and the individual. Because a lot of folks, you know, might be really looking at water like what's happening with the water in my community, how is it being treated? Are the rivers or the lakes if I have those nearby? Are they even safe to swim in? I don't know if you do any advising around that, but I'll just give a personal example. So when I was living in Bend, there is a river called the Deschutes that goes through the river, or sorry, goes through the town. And everybody's in it. They're kayaking and stand up paddleboarding. It's a huge part of the culture there, even though it's very hot and dry people are in the water, especially in the summer, and the waters are clean. You know, it's coming from glaciers, it's cold. But then where I live now, outside of Asheville, the French Broad River is another river that goes through the town of Asheville, and everybody tells me don't swim in that river. You can fall in it, but then get out, don't swim in it, I think. Why is this river so polluted? Why is there not a responsibility to clean it up? And so me being a person that wants to be a good steward of the water for however long I'm here, I've been thinking, Okay, so how can I use my voice? How can I speak up about things that matter to me that will benefit the whole? And why is this not being cared for? I am wondering if you could just support me as an individual, and how that might translate to others because this is my, you know, geographic area, right, going back to the beginning of our conversation. Greg Koch 1:12:00 So you've touched on one of the biggest problems not with water, not just in the United States, but around the world. But the United States is a great example. Because when you look at water quality, right, there's three things that are impacting it. And two of them have been largely solved. And the big challenge is that third one. Okay. So starting with the Clean Water Act in 1972, created by the EPA. Before that, businesses weren't required to treat their wastewater and municipalities weren't required to treat their wastewater and you had things like Love Canal, your listeners can Google that. You had rivers catching on? Love Canal, yeah, Google Love Canal, okay. Google, Pittsburg Rivers on fire. I mean, basically, you had raw industrial effluent being discharged into the environment and raw sewage being discharged by cities. The Clean Water Act came along, and over a period of a few decades. Now, there are strict regulations in place with very strict enforcement. Nothing's perfect. But businesses have to have an industrial wastewater discharge permit that is heavily regulated, they have to treat their water to a certain level before they discharge it to the sewer. And if they go directly into the environment, it's a whole different ball of wax with a lot more control. So by and large, industrial, chemical, wastewater, is being treated. Similarly. Communities, from Chicago to Asheville to tiny communities around the world, now all have to fully treat their wastewater before it's discharged into the environment. So why do we still have polluted rivers? One is, neither of those are perfect. But it should still be swimmable if that's all that was going in there. So it comes to the third. And the concept is called non Point Source runoff. A good example of non Point Source meaning a point would be here's the municipal sewage treatment, that's a point or here's a factory and there's their discharge. pipe. That's a point, a non point. A good example is a parking lot. Right, you got a parking lot in front of a grocery store and a lot of people's cars drip a little bit of oil or whatever it is, and then the rain comes and that rain picks up those contaminants and contaminates the water. So that is a source of contamination. But the biggest one, which is also non-point, is farming. Farms do not need to treat water that leaves their site, whether it leaves a storm water, or it infiltrates into groundwater. Now, farming, agriculture uses 70-75% of the world's water. And they're applying fertilizers, they're applying pesticides and fungicides. And to the extent those aren't fully incorporated into the biomass of the plant, which most cases they're not, then you're going to have run off with those agro chemicals. And that causes a lot of problems in water quality. Carley Hauck 1:15:58 And so that's one of the horrible parts of the animal agriculture system, which you and I were talking about before we hit record, but you know, that's a huge, Oh, what's the word I want to use? I mean, it's definitely adding to the warming of the planet just based on all of the practices and the carbon that's coming from the animals. And that would be a whole nother conversation. Greg Koch 1:16:28 It would, but it's not just animals. I mean, it's it's row crops. It's corn, its wheat, its peas, its carrots, it's Yeah, you exacerbate that? Particularly when it gets concentrated? You know, you're part of mono cropping? Yeah, mono cropping. But in North Carolina, you know, there's a lot of concentrated livestock. So chicken farms, hog farms, right, that are, you know, I could argue their point sources right here, the 10 acre plot of land that has 5000 pigs on it, and it discharges its wastewater I mean, if that's not a point source, then then what is? The same with, you know, chicken, you know, chicken farms in the long rows of chicken houses, and, you know, they have waste coming out of those. And so, so yeah, you, you, you exacerbate the water pollution. And you have climate issues when you talk about livestock and meat in general. But agriculture at large is a huge source of water quality problems, and it's almost completely unregulated. Carley Hauck 1:17:45 Wow. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. So I want to pull it back to the climate report, and I'm tracking all of our conversations. So I'm gonna summarize it kind of in as skillful of a bundle as I can, so that listeners can actually really understand how they might want to take action with all this wonderful information you're giving. When we look at this massive climate report, the sixth one, you know, as you said, it's really talking about what's happening globally. But there are maps that are being shown of how it's going to impact you know, the West Coast versus the East Coast. And most of my listeners of the podcast are in the United States, but they're also in other countries. But just for the purposes of the dominant listeners, what could you forecast regarding drought and water from the west coast to the east coast. In our last conversation, we were talking about how California is actually getting their water from other states. But we know that California is really running out of water, but they have such a massive population. So based on the geography of the climate maps right now. What do you think is going to be happening in the next few years from the west coast to the east coast? I mean, the East Coast is getting more water from these hurricanes and storms and the West Coast, at least from what I can tell, is having more drought and fires but I would love if you can break it down even more and where is a safe place? You know? Or maybe maybe not safe, climate resilient, right? Where is more climate resilient? And how do we support more climate resiliency, in the places that we are? Greg Koch 1:19:52 Well, let me say that, that second part, how do we support climate resilience, where we are is what we should all be focused on. I don't think the time now is. Where's that place in northern Canada? We can all go running because you're right that that's a bit alarmist and I'm not going to advocate for that. But so yeah, call your congressperson, call your senator and say, I want action on climate change, I want it for myself, I want it for my grandchildren, etc, etc. Reduce your own carbon footprint in in ways that are meaningful. Encourage your friends and families to do that. But use your voice and use your vote. Some of the more powerful dollars, no shop with your products, right? Yep. right about that a lot on the podcast. So let's look, West Coast, East Coast, and what is forecasted? I'll just give one example from each coast, right? Yes, you see droughts, you see wildfires, which have always happened and will continue to happen but are anticipated to to be more frequent and last longer and be more intense. But the big, forecasted change in the West Coast. That doesn't get a lot of press but it is. To me, one of the biggest problems is precipitation. Much of the west coast from the Rockies West, regardless of what state you're in, get their water from snow and ice that falls on the Sierra Nevada or the Cascades or the Rockies. It's all part of the Rockies, the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. What have you. And so snow and ice fall and you've got a nice snowpack that's actually measured, and then it melts slowly over spring and summer. And feeds downstream communities from San Diego to Seattle. Okay. Large generalization but pretty accurate. So that snow and ice pack is a reservoir. Think of it as a lake, right? And the temperature is the dam. Right? Because it's still frozen. And then it slowly melts and on it comes like Deschutes river and bend oregon. That's snow and ice melt. Right? It's snow melt. So what if and this is what's forecasted? You actually get more precipitation in the winter. But because it's warmer, that precipitation comes as rain and not snow. Right? Right. So what's gonna happen to the rain, it's not going to wait till summer, it's going to go downhill. And there's nowhere to store it. There's not enough places to store it. So it just ultimately will run off eventually, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. And that's a huge problem. And in fact, if you read the UN Climate report that we talked about earlier, and this got picked up in the press, it rained for the first time in recorded history at the highest glacier in Greenland. Right? So Greenland's got this huge snow ice pack. Right. And so more and more snow. It rained up there. Yeah, Right versus snow. And so think about that in the Sierra Nevada. I mean, forget about skiing and stuff. We're talking about as you're losing that reservoir, and all that water goes off. Now, even if you don't have a drought, there's just no water coming from the mountainside. And so even if the temperatures were cooler, it does, where's the water? It was supposed to be fed to us over the spring and summer. Right. On the east coast. I think one of the biggest near term sort of 10 year problems is storms and storm surges. And probably the best place to see that in action today, as we speak, is Miami Beach. Right. But you could extend that to Galveston, Texas to New Orleans to Biloxi you know, really the whole Gulf Coast and up the e

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The Importance of Empathy in Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2021 27:49

If we've learned anything, in this almost year and a half since the pandemic, it's that having more skills for relating, for coming together, for getting along, and for collaboration is key to the complex issues we're all navigating at work and in the world. I have found that the inner game of emotional intelligence leads to empathy and leadership. You simply can't have one without the other. These two qualities are some of the most important skills leaders, managers, and individual contributors need to learn in this poignant time. As the world continues to transition toward the future age of work- a hybrid remote environment in which human connection is more important than it has ever been before, it will require emotionally intelligent workers. It is essential that we gain more self awareness and self management so that we're able to really pay attention to how we're showing up, at work and in the world. On this solo episode, I want to define emotional intelligence and define how it's linked not only to empathy and leadership, but to successful, thriving teams. I also want to give you some simple and powerful ways that you can begin to practice more empathy at work and in your life. The Importance of Empathy in Leadership SEO Description: On this solo episode, I want to define emotional intelligence and define how it's linked not only to empathy and leadership, but to successful, thriving teams. I also want to give you some simple and powerful ways that you can begin to practice more empathy at work and in your life. The inner game of emotional intelligence leads to greater empathy and greater leadership. These two qualities are some of the most important skills leaders, managers, and individual contributors need to learn in this poignant time. It is essential that we gain more self awareness and self management so that we're able to really pay attention to how we're showing up, at work and in the world. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis The Center for Generational Kinetics Study on Gen Z Google's Aristotle Project Center for Creative Leadership Empathy Study Conscious & Inclusive Leadership Retreat Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck. Welcome to another episode of the amazing and inspiring SHINE podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things- conscious and inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. I will be offering three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our topic today, I would love if you could go over to Apple podcasts and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any amazing episodes. After listening to this episode, or other episodes that you enjoy and find value in, I would be so grateful if you would write a positive review, and or share it with friends, colleagues, your favorite social media channel, it helps so much. Thank you. Our topic for today is the importance of empathy and leadership. If we've learned anything, in this almost year and a half since the pandemic, we've learned that having more skills for relating, for coming together, for getting along, for collaboration is key to the complex issues we're all navigating at work and in the world. And the inner game rules the outer game. And I've been writing a lot on this topic in my recent book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World , also the name of this podcast, and a lot of the work that I've been facilitating and learning organizational development, executive and team coaching in the last decade. And what I have found, and my experience is that the inner game of emotional intelligence, which I'm going to unpack leads to empathy and leadership, you can't have one without the other. And I feel that these two qualities are some of the most important skills leaders, managers, and individual contributors need to learn in this poignant time. The reason? We are facing some of the largest challenges in history of any time before us. We have literally our survival at stake with climate change. This is one of the reasons that I wrote my book, I spent four years writing it, because I wanted to help the human species develop more consciousness so that we could solve these problems together. And the UN Climate report, the most recent the sixth version of it, they've been saying this for quite a long time, but this is the most updated version was released the week of August 9. And we need more than ever, to be able to communicate, to share empathy to understand the other person's perspective and views, even if it's not our own, so that we can solve these complex problems together of racial inequities and social and environmental responsibility and aligning with greater sustainable development for our entire worlds because, as we've learned, in the last year and a half, we are all in this together. 3:51 So I want to define emotional intelligence and how it's linked to empathy and leadership. I also want to give you some ways to practice more empathy at work in your life. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage one's personal emotions and the emotions of others. So having self management, and then social awareness. Knowing how you'd feel in a certain situation helps you to gauge how others will feel in a similar environment, thus enabling favorable social interactions and evoking positive reactions from others. emotionally intelligent people gain social aptitudes, such as the ability to resolve conflict, teach others or manage teams. In my book, Chapter Two is devoted to the inner game of emotional intelligence. And I break down the four dimensions of emotional intelligence. So the first two are self awareness, self management. And the last two are social awareness and relationship mastery. I really think of these four dimensions as being the inner and the outer game. So being that self awareness, self management, it's an inner quality, we're developing it first on the inside. Self management is referred to as self control and self regulation. It's the ability to regulate our emotions or thoughts or behaviors effectively in different situations. It includes managing our stress, delaying gratification, motivating ourselves, setting and working toward personal and academic goals. It's learning how to navigate our triggers and how to express our feelings skillfully. And if we don't have self awareness, the ability to watch and observe our thoughts or feelings or sensations, we're not able to self manage, so they are intrinsically linked. And if you don't develop those first two qualities of emotional intelligence, then you can't show up with the last two, the social awareness and the relationship mastery. So when we gain more self awareness and self management, we're able to really pay attention to how we're showing up, then we're able to apply those same skills to others. Oh, I wonder what's happening for them. Oh, I'm watching their nonverbal behavior. Hmm, this is not the right time to probably have a conversation- they're triggered. That is going to help with relationship mastery. Many of us in the year of the pandemic and ongoing have brought more of ourselves to the workplace than ever before. We've been living and working from our living rooms or bedrooms or basements. And we've all been navigating different levels of uncertainty, grief, anger, volatility, ambiguity. We are human beings, not human doings. We feel discomfort. When there is uncertainty when there is change, even if it's a good change, we think, oh, how am I going to navigate this. And we have been navigating some big feelings, big emotions. And it requires more empathy, more compassion in our leadership and how we relate to one another. 7:41 So let's talk a little bit about the business case for emotional intelligence and empathy in defining it for you. But let's talk about why this really matters at work. And then at the world, because the workplace is a microcosm for the world. In the midst of the pandemic, researchers found that we as a world have rising rates of loneliness and depression makes sense, we've been socially isolated. We've been going through big challenges, and it was already high, but it's gone up higher. This means that mental health concerns represent an opportunity for companies and leaders to embrace emotional intelligence in order to re-engage people at work and life. Additionally, Gen Z, which will be one of the largest populations of the workforce, has been found to be the loneliest generation. With 73% reporting, sometimes or always feeling alone. According to the Center for Generational Kinetics, which was a 2020 study, solving the remote work challenge across generations, it was found that more than any other generation Gen Z wants their managers to be empathetic. If the youth is the future, which it is, they are the leaders that our world needs now. And they're lonely and psychologically stressed than the future of work, must have emotional intelligence and empathy. And again, if we don't cultivate those inner game skills of emotional intelligence and empathy, then we're not able to create psychological safety in our teams or one on ones and in the greater culture. And that's really important for high performance, innovation for creativity, for collaboration. I talk a lot about the concept of psychological safety, and I write a lot about it in my book. I was trained in the psychological safety scan by Dr. Amy and Dr. Amy and Edmondson and her 25 years of research on this important topic at Harvard, and in worksites. Psychological safety is one of the first things that I measure when I'm brought in for any team development, when I'm looking to design and implement a large scale learning or leadership development program, or really focusing on supporting the culture to flourish. For those that are not familiar with the concept, or the definition of psychological safety, here's a summary. According to Google's famous project, Aristotle initiative, a high performing team needs three things: strong awareness of the importance of social connections, or social sensitivity, an environment where each person speaks equally. And lastly, psychological safety, where everyone feels safe to show and employ themselves without fear of negative consequences. To harness these three elements of a successful team, it takes an emotionally intelligent and empathetic leader. People feel cared for when these three items are present among a team or an organization. And guess what? People who feel cared for are more loyal, engaged, committed, productive. In fact, employees who feel cared for by their organization are 10 times more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work. Whoo, nine times more likely to stay at their company for three or more years, we want that. Seven times more likely to feel included at work. We want people to feel like they have belonging, they can bring their whole and best selves to work. They're four times less likely to suffer from stress and burnout. And they're two times as likely to be more engaged at work. 12:15 Well, that feels like a no brainer for developing a culture of greater emotional intelligence and empathy. The three core human needs of work and life are to survive, belong and become. Much like Maslov's hierarchy of needs, once humans fulfill the need for food, water, shelter, they then seek to be accepted for who they are belonging, and then finally learn to grow to become their best selves. That's the self actualization at the top of the pyramid. As the world advances more and more, our survival needs are being consistently met. But for some, they're still in survival mode. Many of us are, since the pandemic. And so that's another reason why it's important to have emotionally intelligent leaders that are capable of showing empathy, and extending belonging to their teams. I believe that humane technology has the possibility to advance humanity. The Industrial Revolution requires strong workers, the Information Age required knowledgeable workers, but this future age of work that we're in- hybrid remote, it will require emotionally intelligent workers. Because as we become more sophisticated, technologically with AI and 5g, the human skills, the soft skills, some people call them, the inner game skills, I called them, they're the real skills, like compassion and empathy. This is going to define the competitive edge of workers and entire organizations. As the world becomes more high tech, we will need more high touch. As technology advances, it will take on some of the skills that humans aren't good at, or we don't like or too dangerous, but then it gives us the opportunity to have more capacity to relate to one another and be empathetic towards one another. So, let's talk about building empathy. A study by the Center for Creative Leadership found that managers who show higher levels of empathy towards their team are viewed more positively overall on their performance of decision making coaching, engaging meant planning and organizing. Developing greater capacity for empathy becomes even more important. With all of these distributed teams around the world, working remotely, phone and zoom are the normal. But we can often miss emotional cues nonverbal cues. If we're not being mindful of how this other person might be feeling, thinking, perceiving. Daniel Goleman and Paul Ekman have identified three different types of empathy. Now, I'd like to read more about them for you. So we have cognitive empathy. And this by the way, is taken from my book in chapter three. Cognitive empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's place and understand their perspective. This quality enables leaders to assess what others are feeling is also a natural outgrowth of self awareness. The executive circuits in the brain that allow you to notice your thoughts and monitor your feelings give you the ability to transfer these skills from yourself to another. One way to grow your cognitive empathy is to ask what would happen if I put myself in this person's shoes? Or what might I have done? If I had this experience? Emotional empathy. This is the second kind of empathy. This is the ability to feel what someone else feels. Another name for this is emotional contagion. This is what happens when you are interacting with a distraught colleague and begin to feel down and distraught too. It is important that you connect with what people are feeling, but you don't want to be rocked by their feeling state. One way to grow your emotional empathy is to allow your positive or negative feelings to surface while listening to a co-worker's emotional experience. So this really comes down to having a self awareness practice really noticing what's happening in my body. What am I really noticing and the other? And some questions you might ask yourself to grow your emotional empathy is, when have I experienced a similar story? How did I feel when this happened to me? Here's an important distinction. Cognitive empathy is empathy by thought. And emotional empathy is empathy by feelings. And the third type of empathy is compassionate empathy. This is the ability to move into action with empathic concern. This is what many co-workers typically react to in the workplace. For example, when a team member reports that he or she doesn't have the complete information to finish the deliverable. A leader might jump in, or assign someone to help with one of the related tasks. A question that can help you build compassion. Empathy is, what supportive action would I want or need, if I were in this person's shoes? We all want to be seen, felt and heard. and developing empathy supports appropriate boundaries, while allowing you to be with and to acknowledge another's range of experiences. Empathy says, I am here with you, and I know the struggle and have lived this experience. 18:48 So as you're listening, I'd love to guide you through a practice to develop your empathy. Take a moment and find a place where you can actually drop in close your eyes. So don't do this if you're driving. But really give yourself a chance to pause. Notice your feet connected to the floor. Notice your body posture. sitting up nice and tall. Bring your shoulders up and back. Open your jaw. Maybe move your head from side to side. Relax. Bring your attention into your body. And start to notice the rhythm of your breath. Breathing in, feel the stomach rise, breathing out, feel the stomach fall. Breathing in, breathing out and out. Breathing in and as you exhale out, breathe out. Let's do that two more times. In and out, getting all the attention from the day. I mean negative experiences just release from the body. And one more time breathing in, out. Now, I invite you to bring to mind a colleague at work. Maybe it's even someone at home, this person is experiencing some difficulty. Ask yourself the following questions to help develop your empathy. What would I do? How would I feel in a similar situation? What would I want? or expect from my manager? What would I not want? If you like, you can journal about this. This exercise comes directly from my book. And there's a journaling opportunity, but I'll say the questions one more time. So that you can really build your inner game of empathy. What would I do? How would I feel in a similar situation? What would I want or expect from my manager? What would I not want? 21:45 If this was a little difficult for you, this exercise or a little challenging, you might be naturally low on the empathy scale. So this is an opportunity for you to grow it. You can learn to check yourself and do what doesn't always come naturally. So here's some tips. Before you act, you can pause when you're relating with another and ask how am I what I'm about to do or say, impact others. We can't always, you know, be the people pleaser. And we don't really know how our thoughts and behaviors are going to impact another because everyone has their own lens that they view it from and their own worldview and lived experiences. But if your intention and motivation is coming from care, and truth, then that's the best that you can do. But it is I think important to pause and really be skillful in how we're relating to everyone right now, more than ever, because we're all navigating so much complexity and uncertainty. You can also develop your inner game of self awareness, self management, by really noticing your thoughts, your feelings, your body sensations. A meditation practice is one of the best ways you can grow your self awareness and you can start to develop greater self management, because you're able to pause and refrain from speaking, when maybe you're triggered or the other person's triggered. You can take care of yourself and the relationship when you have these two skills. And then the other two dimensions of emotional intelligence is that you show up with greater social awareness and relationship mastery. Another way to grow into a more emotionally intelligent and empathetic leader is to have a trusted advisor or coach that can help you see your blind spots and support you to develop greater skill and your emotional intelligence, empathy and communication. I have been working as an executive coach now for 15 years, serving all types of leaders, emerging. middle managers, CEOs, founders, HR business partners. And I have often supported these folks, and up leveling the skills because we can't change what we don't see, which is always great to have a coach to reflect back to us, love and truth and challenge us to be our best selves. I will always challenge my clients to grow with compassion and truth. If I see a mindset or action that is hindering them to show up in the best of ways I name it, I investigate it, I mirror it back to them. So that there's the ability for them to shift and change, and be in service of their greatest possibility and potential for their teams, their life, their organization. 25:25 So that's what I have for you on this important topic. If you would like support around creating a culture with more emotional intelligence, empathy, and our psychological safety in your organization and your leadership team, I would love to help you. Please reach out to me and book a free consultation, and the link will be in the show notes. As I shared before, I also do a lot of coaching with folks on these important skills. And I would love to support you. I have a whole page on executive coaching on my website, and there is a coaching application you can fill out and be happy to book a free consultation to talk with you more. I also am often asked to conduct trainings and workshops and keynotes on this topic for lots of different organizations. And I would be delighted to serve you in this capacity. Additionally, if you are seeking someone to support you to build this more human centered leadership and organization on a more full time capacity, please feel free to contact me. Again, I'd be happy to book some time with you. And if I'm not the right person to help you, I'd love to put you in touch with someone who might be a better fit, because I have a big network. And I like to help people. A couple other resources on how you can grow this and yourself. I write a lot about this topic in my book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. I also have many free articles on my website on emotional intelligence, empathy. I encourage you to check all of that out. If you have any questions, comments or topics that you feel you'd really love to learn more about and have me address on the podcast, please email me at support@carlyhauck.com. And as always, thank you so much for tuning in and being part of this wonderful community and until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

The Future of Food is Cultivated Meat with Curt Albright

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2021 68:49

Curt AlbrIght is one of the key leaders highlighted in my new book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. He has over 30 years of experience in banking, investment banking, capital markets and corporate finance, and in 2011, Curt became keenly aware of the atrocities facing our planet and its inhabitants stemming from the dysfunctional food system. When I first spoke to Curt, he shared with me some of his spiritual awakening from investment banker to investing in plant based foods, fermentation companies and the cultivated meat technology space, and how he completely shifted his diet, his entire life, to be in service of a more regenerative food system that is in harmony with the planet. And he also shared his love of animals and I was so touched by his story and his commitment to people on the planet that I could not help but want to have him on the SHINE podcast to share more. On this podcast interview, Curt and I speak about the problems with animal agriculture, the fishing industry and the evolution of cultivated meat and plant based food products. We talk about what cultivated meat is and why it is the wave of the future, to feed our growing population in a way that nourishes life. If you have been interested and up leveling your inner game of well being, how to be mindful of how you consume and eat in a way that supports the flourishing of the planet and your body, this interview is for you. Resources mentioned in this episode: Curtis LinkedIn Clear Current Capital “Removing Animals From Your Plate” by Phil Wollen Eat to Live Dr. Joel Fuhrman Seaspiracy: The Movie BlueNalu, Inc. Good Food Institute Cowspiracy: The Sustainable Secret Forks Over Knives Meat Me Halfway Need to Grow How to be a Courageous Leader Amidst Climate Change SHINE panel discussion Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken Pachamama Alliance The Reducetarian Cookbook: 125 Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Plant-Based Recipes for Omnivores, Vegans, and Everyone In-Between by Brian Kateman Carley's recommendations Just Egg Goodcatch Foods Abbott's Butcher Sweet Earth Miyokos REBBL Ominfoods Alphafoods Beyond Meat Lightlife Wholy Veggie Honey Mamas Good Karma Connect with SHINE Conscious & Inclusive Leadership Retreat Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck Shareables: “I want to to have as great an effect for the good as I had for the bad before and get in the middle of this thing while I am still walking the earth ” — Curt Albright “I believe the oceans are the lungs of the earth and that the oceans die, we die.” — Curt Albright “Raising awareness in individuals can create people who can do unbelievable things… but not so much as to move the needle by getting more human capital to do the next right thing, which is getting animals off of our plate.” — Curt Albright “How we're going to get food onto our plates is probably the biggest problem when I think about everything that we're facing from climate change to social justice issues. That is at the center of it all.” — Carley Hauck “We're not trying to point fingers in the plant based food industry, we're trying to bring a solution as quick as we can.” — Curt Albright “What I want to do is inspire other people to feel the goodness that comes from living an authentic lifestyle.” — Curt Albright The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck and welcome to another episode of the shine podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. I will be facilitating three amazing interviews a month. Before I tell you about our topic today, if you can go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button, and if you love this episode, which I'm sure you will, please write a positive review, share it on your social media channel, or share it with some of your favorite people. It helps so much. Thank you. Our topic for today is the future of cultivated meat is here with Curt Albright. Before I introduce Curt, I wanted to share a little context for the origin of the SHINE podcast, and how that directly relates to this topic. I began doing research for my new book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World four years ago. And as part of the research, I was interviewing thought leaders, climate scientists, emerging leaders, business leaders that were really focusing on social justice, environmental responsibility, and I chose nine leaders and businesses that are really rocking it for people and planet. And out of those nine, there were three that I really focused on in the book that are all part of this plant based, cultivated meat technology, future of food movement. And it's been so incredible to watch where these leaders started in the journey as I was writing the book to where they are now and the momentum that they have gained, like Josh Tetrick of Eat Just and David Young of Omni Foods and Green Monday and Green Common. And Sheryl O'Laughlin, who was still the CEO of REBLL and now she's gone into so many other incredible different roles and leading the change and wonderful ways. And Curt, he is in this space as well. He is the founder managing member at Clear Current Capital since September 2017. From 1991 until 2017, Curt was Senior VP and partner to a national investment banking firm located in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has over 30 years of experience in banking, investment banking, capital markets and corporate finance. In 2011, Curt became keenly aware of the atrocities facing our planet and its inhabitants stemming from the dysfunctional food system. Clear current capital's targeted impact mission thesis is his life's work. When I first spoke to Curt, he shared with me some of his spiritual awakening from investment banker to investing in plant based foods, fermentation companies and the cultivated meat technology space. And how he completely shifted his diet, his entire life, to be in service of a more regenerative food system that is in harmony with the planet. And he also shared his love of animals and I was so touched by his story and his commitment to people on the planet that I could not help but want to have him on the SHINE podcast to share more. Carley Hauck 04:17 So in this interview, we talk about the problems with animal agriculture, the fishing industry, and the evolution of the cultivated meat and plant based food industry, which is amazing. We talk about the problems with animal agriculture, the fishing industry and the evolution of cultivated meat and plant based food products. We talk about what cultivated meat is and why it is the wave of the future, to feed our growing population in a way that nourishes life. If you have been interested and up leveling your inner game of well being, how to be mindful of how you consume and eat in a way that supports the flourishing of the planet and your body, this interview is for you. Carley Hauck 05:05 Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining the SHINE podcast. I'm here with my new friend, Curt Albright. Curt, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for the invitation. And just tell our listeners, where are you zooming in from today? Sure. So I'm just south of Vero Beach, Florida, on the east coast of Florida. Great. Thank you. And so one of the first questions that I usually always ask folks, because this is a podcast on conscious and inclusive leadership. What does conscious inclusive leadership mean to you? Curt Albright 05:43 Well, conscious and inclusive leadership means to me, I think the word that really comes to mind is mindfulness. It's just being self aware enough to know that, you know, I'm a work in progress, and always will be. And now that I've, I'm in a position where I've founded a venture capital firm, you know, I've got responsibilities today that I didn't have before. So in today's world, I face one issue at a time, and it excites me to think that I can help balance a world that could use some extra balance these days. Hmm. Carley Hauck 06:25 So I heard taking one thing at a time, and trying to bring more balance to the world. But that also means you have to be balanced on the inside that on the outside, right, I can't give what I don't have. And so you are managing partner at Clear Current Capital. And that is investing in plant based food fermentation companies and cultivated meat technology companies at more of the early stage of business, is that correct? Curt Albright 07:05 Yep, you got it. I was just gonna say, you know, that was a mindful decision on my part that I didn't see coming, you know, not two years previous to making that decision. And I ended a 26 year career in investment banking to start Clear, Current Capital. And the reason that I did that was because I had become keenly aware of the atrocities that were happening in our food system. And I saw this as being the most core way to deal to bring bring a solution to most of the problems that speak deeply to me. Carley Hauck 07:38 Yeah, so the reason that I wanted to invite you on to the podcast is, after one of the conversations we had recently, you told me about this big shift that happened for you. And I'd love to hear more how you turned vegan, how you became, you know, just very impacted by the suffering that was happening to animals, wherever you'd like to start. It was a beautiful story. Curt Albright 08:08 There's a lot there. Um, you know, I don't know where to start. It was it's been a heck of a journey and a heck of a ride. And it was again, it was nothing that I signed up for it was because I had a lot of speed bumps in life that I didn't have answers for, you know, and I was brought up in sports in a very different lifestyle than what I had today. And, and I was a finance major when right into banking, I was in private banking, in DC area where I grew up and went into the investment banking world, all my customers were banks, and it was a very money oriented world, which I had parts of me that like that a lot. And I just didn't know how to balance myself and my life got out of control from every aspect. And you know, at the end, which happened to me, I got a well, I'll give you one I didn't share with you before I was I was diagnosed in the year 2000 as a type one diabetic. That was the first thing that happened to me. And I believe that was due to my lifestyle. I was 38 years old, 37 years old. And so to get juvenile diabetes doesn't generally happen that late in life, but it was it was to me it was a God wink with what I know now. And I didn't do really much of any changing it took me five or six years of more pain. And in my very dysfunctional lifestyle to realize my life was not getting better. I had all the toys and that's what I thought was the big goal in life was he has been a sign of success. Yeah, that's it. I mean, at the big house and cars and you name it and a successful career and I was completely unhappy inside. And it just didn't make any sense to me on how I was taught to be happy to think in my head growing up and so I did some a bunch of therapy work. My marriage was in a shambles. And that's what started it. And it ended up becoming a realization to me that I didn't know how to live healthy I just never I because I'd never done it before. And and that's what got me into recovery, which I got into in November of 2006. And that so that transferring from therapy to save my marriage to doing spiritual work on myself to find out why am I not happy to getting into recovery, around alcohol abuse? It all started to tie together and it all started to make sense. And my self awareness just started to raise up and I realized that I was unhealthy because every aspect of my life was unhealthy. And so what am I going to do about it? Well, I got in the middle of the healthy lifestyle and just started looking for ways to be of service and, and one of the first things was I got introduced to Andrew Harvey, which I mentioned before and right. And, and his, his help to me was just, it was so core, I mean, I don't remember the exact meeting place, but but it was just one sentence. He said, meditate over what breaks your heart, the greatest and I kept thinking myself, I'm waiting for the rest of it. No, that was it. And so so that's what I did is I just asked myself, What breaks my heart the greatest and I kind of meditated over that. And he said, you know, the other thing that can be helpful is if you see an ad on TV, what do you have to turn your eyes away from because you get too emotional. And it was easy. That was easy. For me it was animal suffering. And so that's what started it for me and and, and so you know, I I cleaned up my, my lifestyle, I looked for ways to be of service to others and sponsored a bunch of men in recovery and still do and then started to look for ways to help animals and by bought 11 acres and donated it to a rescue in Charlotte where I was living. And what happened was, there was a mercy for animals undercover investigation at a Butterball factory in, I think it was Statesville, North Carolina and the director from the animal rescue was getting called in to help out with this undercover investigation rescue and it was absolutely horrific. And so that's what tied me into the food industry. So again, it's these organic things that just got placed right in front of me. And and so when I researched it, and looked, I was like, okay, the reason why the rescue wasn't working out so well was because I was on the wrong end of the business. It's they do great work, they rescued a couple 1000 animals every year, but I wanted to to have as great an effect for the good as I had for the bad before and get in the middle of this thing while I was still walking the earth and and so I researched mercy for animals that got me into some of the nonprofits and and I was just blown away by the numbers. I mean, I'm a numbers guy and you know, seeing that there were 30 billion animals that were suffering and slaughtered every year on the face of the earth. And you know, what just the animal husbandry part of our food system does to the planet itself. It just, I was blown away. And I knew that the animal farmed animal industry was not anything that I cared to know too much about. I was just afraid of my own emotions. That game was over. And and so I watched you know, movies and read books and just got in the middle of what was the truth was and what was going on and then began to look for ways to get in the middle of the the food industry. Curt Albright 13:43 And so the the the video in 2012 by Phil Wollen was was another one that I watched the 10 minute video called Removing Animals From Your Plate, and I realized I wasn't doing enough on my own to support removing animals from your plate. That's what you said. I believe. I believe that's the title of it. If you just Google Philip Wallen speech, it'll come up. Carley Hauck 14:12 Yeah, you mentioned it. I was saying it again for our listeners, because we'll be able to put a link to it in the show notes. Yeah, he was Citibank Australia. So having another banker talk about his emotions and feelings kind of validated what I was going through and gave me permission to dig deeper into the atrocities that were that is or animal based food system and, and so that got me looking for more ways to support so I ended up switching gears and and supporting a number in a philanthropic way, a number of effective nonprofits, like Mercy for Animals, like the Humane League. We opened up an office for the Humane League in Charlotte in 2013. And so you know, it just the path just kept going and I just kept feeling more and more centered. I was selling things I was getting rid of my stuff I was trying to live smaller, you know, I'd never met, you know, other guys that live that way and were authentic before I met them from the nonprofit work and one of them was Bruce Friedrich who ended up founding the Good Food Institute. And, and Bruce was just super kind to me. And he lives in DC, it's where I grew up. And so, you know, he kind of introduced me around to the who's who are the effective workers that were doing this greater good work and, and I again, never met people like that before, and I wanted more of it. And so when he started the Good Food Institute, you know, having the business angle to it, that was extremely attractive to me and, and watching them explode, watching their effects on the plant based food market in general in this country. I wanted to help and so not just try to make a bunch of money and give it away. And so we met in Atlanta. And that's where the idea came from, to start clear, current capital. Carley Hauck 16:05 Wonderful, wonderful, beautiful story. And how long have you been a vegan? Curt Albright 16:11 I think I officially turned to raise the flag in May of 2012. And, you know, just to kind of put a little extra in on that. At that time. I weighed 250 pounds. And so I had all kinds of health issues. What one of the things that I forgot to mention before was I met a doctor at right around that time, I had sleep apnea problems and this doctor, the first time that I met him, we had this heart to heart conversation, and I just blew me away to realize that this is the first time I met this doctor. And he said to me, Listen, I want you to read this book, called, I wrote it down. I didn't forget Eat to Live Dr. Joel Fuhrman. And he said, I want you to read this book, because it was written by another doctor, I read it and it changed my life. And it just, it just floored me to have a doctor share something that heartfelt with me the first time I met him, and that was another one of those kind of God winks to me that, you know, I'd bought the book, I read it, and there was all kinds of accolades around losing weight, if you don't think Dr. Furman mentioned the word vegan in there, it's all about eating healthy. And so I didn't believe it could work for me because I thought I was still different. And what I did is I started eating exactly like the book told me to eat and not only did I lose the weight, but I gained an energy and I just felt better and just everything, you know, again, it just started all coming together. So it's, it's been, there's been a lot of those on my journey. Carley Hauck 17:55 I just really love the journey that you've been on, like listening to this, this transformation and, and really being aware of the signs, so to speak, and opportunities of what to follow and, and what I'm hearing, and it's interesting that your your business is called Clear Current Capital, but it's almost like you're flowing with what actually is calling to you what what is making your heart, you know, feel most alive, which is, which is doing good, which is being part of the solution to these atrocities that the food agriculture system has developed. I mean, not only for animals, but for what's happening to our planet, and what's happening to the potential of our, of our humanity and and our survival. Curt Albright 18:52 Really. Absolutely. No, no, no, I love your analogy with the name because that was one of the feelings that I did have when we were naming the firm. In an early on, I was told that you know, I was living my life trying to force my will or force my way against the current and I could identify with that totally back everything was a battle and it was it was horrible. And once I let go and just, you know, let go the outcomes is just did the next right thing and started looking at ways to truly be of service and mean it. Everything shifted. Yeah, I mean, today, it's just it's got the flow. I mean, my life is nothing like I ever imagined it would be and and nor could I have ever imagined I'd be as happy with a different definition of what happy is to what it means to me today. Because today, it's really about, you know, self awareness and living a life of purpose. I can assure you that was not even on my radar screen 20 years ago. Carley Hauck 19:57 Lovely well, you know, I, I wanted to highlight you a lot in this interview, but I can really relate to that. And I shared with you the book that I've been, you know, writing for the last four years. But one of the impetus for that book was really the crisis that I see us. And as a humanity, I mean, I believe the planet is going to survive. But I don't know if we are based on our behaviors based on how we're treating each other, treating animals treating the planet. And I went to a conference at Stanford, about a year or two after I had started teaching there, and it was called Connect the Dots. And it was some of the world's you know, most distinguished climate scientists all coming together for one day. And they were sharing the research and what was at stake. And I thought that I knew the research, I thought I'd been tracking climate change science. And I was just blown away by how little time we have left. And then very shortly after attending that conference, I was spending a day with my nephew, who at the time was four, who's now 10. And he looked at me, and he said, Aunty Carley, will you help me save the oceans? And I, I mean, I still get kind of tears just thinking about it, because I'm still in that fight. You know, I'm still standing for that. And I'm not sure if we're going to be able to save the ocean. And this, this will come back to our conversation. But I knew that if I said yes to him, I had to really say yes. And as a little girl, I was very passionate about marine life, whales, dolphins, I went out of my way, many times to write letters to dictators of Japan, when I was seven or eight, you know, asking them to stop killing the whales, I was saving sea turtles, things like that. So I was also a very concerned child around this issue, and to have him say it to me. So I started writing my book. And I really wanted to highlight companies and leaders who were very committed to creating a sustainable future. And, and I know neither of us really like that word, because it can be, you know, it can have different connotations, but a company that is really committed to social justice, environmental responsibility. And so some of the leaders that I highlighted in that book, are all part of this plant based cultivated me, you know, Business Technology, like David Young, like Josh Tetrick of East Just, Cheryl O'Laughlin, from REBLL. And so that was kind of one of the ways that I met you, because it's an area that I also feel really passionate about. And so I wanted to just speak to why this is so important, and just some of the, the stats. So I believe these are pretty current. But what I found was that about 65% of Americans are lactose intolerant, and even more so in Asia. So as we can see, you know, in the plant based space, non dairy milks are having quite a rise. Oatly, I believe, had an IPO not too long ago. But we're, we're seeing lots of products like dyad, cheese, and Mykonos, and whatnot. And then we're also seeing that meat and dairy consumption is declining in Europe, and in the US. But it's on the rise in China and India. And I think that we need to really bring more awareness education around the clean, or the cultivated meat technologies, and why it's so important that we're eating more plant based, that we're not eating animals. And so, and one of the conversations that you and I recently had, you were saying to me that you really believe that the chicken and fish industry is one of the most devastating ones can you speak more to what you know about that? Curt Albright 24:23 Yeah. And, and I totally agree with what you said, on all fronts, especially when it comes to the oceans. Because, you know, I believe the oceans are the lungs of the earth and that the oceans die, we die. Right and, and, you know, I mean, there was a team of scientists, I don't remember how many years ago they did their study, but it was super in depth independent study, and basically what they came away with that it was the year 2048. If we continue to fish and and kill sea creatures at the level that we're doing it right now, the oceans will be dead by 2048. So we're literally in a race with time. And you know, that's from the mind from the heart. For me, it's all about animal suffering, right? And so I concentrate on numbers. And, you know, again, when you look at how many chickens does it take to equal the weight of a pig, you know how much meat comes from a chicken versus a pig, how much? How many chickens to take equal one cow. It's, it's a huge multiplier. And so the amount of suffering and I don't know if you've seen what they put chickens through to slaughter them, but it's just it's, it's unbelievable. I mean, anyone could even come up with the contraptions that they use. And what's going on now is is the, you know, the big meat industry is trying to get oversight and regulations further and further away from the industry because the animals don't have a voice. And so it's making the slaughter lines move faster. It's making the shackles buckle quicker. I mean, it's just, it's just, it's insanity. And we know it causes cancer in human beings. So, so of eating animals that are dirty to begin with, because of their living conditions. And that's before you get to the growth hormones and the and the antibiotics that they have to pump into them. It's just mind boggling the amount of solution that comes from getting them out of the food industry. And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. On the ocean side, what really gets to me is, is you've got no oversight once again. And as we've witnessed over the past many years, when there's no oversight business tends to not do the right thing. Not big business. And because it's so profit driven, and and there's not that many mindfully operated huge businesses and especially without oversight. And you know, you've got dumping issue, you've got human trafficking issues, we've got, you know, slave labor, it's all in the seafood industry. And that's before you get to the mile wide net. And that what the mile wide nets will do is they'll catch if thereafter, say bluefin tuna, they'll catch the bluefin tuna or whatever's left of them, but they're also gonna catch everything else. Right. So the bycatch could be eight to 12 pounds of bycatch, of whale everything. And then, and then it's just they just kill them, their entire ecosystem, which is barely in balance is just getting annihilated because they're going after one particular species. Right. So it's, it's, I see this and, you know, again, my process was not fast, especially living through it. And but I would never, I mean, I'm so grateful for going through it because it was painful. But it also taught me that we can't get there. In my mind, we can't get there quick enough, by trying to raise awareness. Now, raising awareness in individuals can create people who can do unbelievable things. So I think that the messaging and getting it out is just vitally important, but not so much to move the needle, as it is to get more human capital into doing the next right thing, which is getting them off of our plate. Carley Hauck 28:07 Right. And I wanted to just bring another statistic, and this actually came from Seaspiracy the movie, which I highly recommend. And in fact, Curt recommended to me and I hadn't watched it yet. And real Netflix, yeah, losing the sea floor, which is what happens from the trolling. And the nets from the fishing industry is basically you know, estimated that it's wiping out 3.9 billion acres a year of seafloor, deforestation. So that's killing everything in the ocean. And again, like you said, if we, if we don't have the vitality of the ocean, we won't survive. We're 70% water. And when we're killing these big animals like dolphins and whales, when they come up to the surface, they're releasing phytoplankton, which helps actually nurture the rest of the ocean. So it's just and so many of these larger animals are dying, because they're full of plastic. They're full of fishing nets. And it's, there's, there's just some really big problems that we need to solve. But I agree with you that the food agriculture system, and how we are designing how we're going to get food onto our plates is probably the biggest problem when I think about everything that we're facing from climate change to social justice issues. That is at the center of it all. Curt Albright 29:45 And again, it gets worse the more you're open to doing your own research because like I remember, years ago, hearing years before I got involved, hearing about the Amazon rainforest, and it made no sense to me that the cattle industry had anything to do with it. The cattle industry has everything to do with it. And and now it's out in the open if you just Google it, but but it's just the the land clearing that's going on, and the devastation that's being done to this planet to, for animal agriculture is is crazy. And again, it's, it's, it's profitable at the expense of our planet. And it does not have to be that way. And so that's what you know, that's what I'm excited about is, you know, we're not trying to point fingers in the plant based food industry, we're trying to bring a solution as quick as we can, because and the solution is not Well, number one, it's a math game. I mean, we're at 7 billion people ish now. And they're saying by 2050, will be a 10 and change. We can't even feed 7 billion that we have on the planet right now in this dysfunctional industry. So how are we going to handle 10? There is not enough land, there is nothing sustainable about animal agriculture, you cannot utilize it and feed the number of people that we have today, or will be here in 2050. And so the solution that's what I love about the cultivated meat industry, is the efficiencies that come from plant based food, which was our first to market because it was easier to bring that quickly at price points. The next really meaningful industry is going to be cultivated meat, and what can be done in those biomass reactors by you know, cultivating meat cells that are identical to animals, biologically, and and can be done vertically, and be placed right next to where the demand is, for me is it's mind boggling. And so I'm very hopeful that that is going to happen. And I mean, the you know, we work closely with BlueNalu from from the beginning, and to see the PhDs that they've been able to hire and what they are putting together as quickly as they are it's been it gives me hope. And well, they don't knowBlueNalu. Can you share a little bit more for our listeners? Sure, BlueNalu is a is a cultivated meat but focused on seafood, sea creatures. startup company was founded, I guess it was founded in 2017. And so we were involved with them from the beginning, thanks to friends, and other VCs that we're aligned with that helped me in forming clear current capital, as well as the Good Food Institute. And Lou Cooperhouse is their CEO and founder. And Lou has done an amazing job of putting together their team, putting together their platform, their lab work and attracting capital from literally all around the world. You know, because what's happened in the tuna industry, what's happened in the seafood industry is we're we've fished it to the point now where there are you can't plan for a whether the animal that you're looking for is even available, and be what the price is going to be. So their supply chain aside from the pandemic is horrific. And so here's here's an opportunity to switch to something that's that is grown from cells, now the cells are removed from a living creature, there, they're then taken into a lab and grown by feeding the cells, allowing it to grow in a very clean environment, what you end up with is meat and muscle that is identical to the animal itself. And so it's a much safer environment. It doesn't have plastics involved with it, it doesn't have micro plastics or or, you know, mercury within the fish because it's never been in the water. It's grown from cells. And so, you know, there's some concerns about, you know, whether consumers are going to accept cultivated meat, I would argue that, that it's an opportunity for us to educate consumers on where their fish is coming from right now, because so much of what's in the marketplace right now is not healthy in the least to eat this label. Carley Hauck 34:08 Right? I was gonna share that even the even the products that say dolphin safe, there's no real regulation, like how do we really know that? So I was sharing this with you the other day I went, or just before the interview started, I went to this local grocery store here in Bend called market of choice. And I went to one of the, you know, store clerks and I said, Do you sell Good Catch? Because I knew that based on their website, they were selling it and so we went to the you know, the seafood aisle where the canned tuna and whatnot is, and it was very low down on this shelf. It was kind of pushed back. And for people that don't know what good catches This is another alternative plant based seafood and it's pretty much made out of chickpeas. Six legume. Yeah, it's fabulous. Really great. But as I'm looking at all the other products around Good catch, it's all saying dolphin safe, you know, reef friendly. But how do we really know that? And I don't, I don't believe that that's true, there's going to be bycatch likely in anything, and what are their nets. And so these are the things that we as consumers really need to poke holes in, and be concerned about, and, and speak up against. Curt Albright 35:35 And so talk about that, in the spirit see that it's another one of those, you know, greenwashed kind of things that, you know, you've got companies that are making donations to politicians to look, the other way to put some label on that has absolutely no oversight or bearing it just, it just makes consumers feel good. Like they're making the right choice. And it's unfortunate for animals and for the planet. Carley Hauck 36:00 And I think what's so interesting about cultivated meat is that, you know, we're trying to meet consumers where they are, right, like, people aren't willing to let go of fish, if we were all really willing just to eat fruits and vegetables, and beans, we'd be fine. But these industries are being formed to meet consumers where they are in the sense that there's been so much science around how a vegan and vegetarian diet is better for the planet, it's better for our bodies, you know, gives more resources to everyone. But that doesn't seem to be enough motivation to get people to change because we're attached to certain patterns and habits. And so cultivated meat, doesn't need to be here. But it does, because people aren't changing their habits, they're not changing and choosing differently. And so tell me more Curt Albright 36:55 What I was gonna say, that's a great point, I completely agree. And that's why we as a fund, I mean, we're an impact fund first. And and the other side of that coin is we're trying to provide above market returns to our investors, so that we attract more capital into this space, we only invest in scalable companies that are all protein that in other words, we're not looking to feed the vegans or the vegetarians. You know, and again, I'm one, and I eat super healthy, but I'm not the 98% of the consumers that are out there. And if we're going to say this planet, we got to get to the other 98 sooner than later. And so we're looking for to invest in scalable companies, startup companies that we can help grow and put on a solid foundation that are going to remove animals from the from the food system as quickly as possible. Yeah, so we're looking for strong founders that can can deliver and can deliver centerplate solutions. We're not looking for vegetable patties, we're looking for meat that's that taste as good or better than the McDonald's burger or the or the Whopper, there's a reason why they sell a gazillion of them every day. It's because they taste good. And they're cheap. And so that's what we're trying to bring as a solution taste good, cheap and convenient. Carley Hauck 38:13 And that's also why we're why we sell one of the most, you know, successful brands to start with was the impossible burger, because they recognize that's where the market was. That's where the demand was, how can we create a plant based product that tastes like a burger, and many people now have decided they liked the impossible burger better. And then Beyond Meat came out, and now has all these different products. And they're a publicly traded company. And I think that's really changed the landscape. Curt Albright 38:50 I remember the day that that IPO hit for Beyond, and believe me, I was watching and and, and it just blew me away to see that stock trade up in premarket before it was physically trading in the market. And so the success of the IPO just, you know, burned a new path for the next IPO for for plant based food company. And that's the awareness. That's the consumer demand. I mean, it is there and it is real. And so at this point, in our early stage, we're trying to get enough product in the market to to feed the demand that's already there. And that's a gift from, you know, those nonprofits like Mercy for Animals and the Good Food Institute that have raised the awareness. It's not always going to be that easy, and we're going to have a lot of competitors, but at the same time, we're trying to replace a trillion dollar meat industry. So we're far from saturation. That's not a concern of mine. The concern of mine is is trying to get these companies scaled up during a pandemic when we have distribution problems. Right and so there's there's you know, there's there's always going to be challenges and issues, but but but the pandemic is also doing is, is showing how, how many health issues there are in our supply chain from every angle as human beings, and how little we really know about how things are run. And everybody eats, you know, three, five times a day. So we were making conscious decisions. It has it has a byproduct on our own health. And it's a byproduct to the health of our planet. And so it's, it's, it'll take time to raise the awareness. And but the good news is, is there's a lot of companies that are that are coming up, I think the next couple of years are going to be really exciting. And the cultivated meatspace I think will, hopefully we'll get an FDA USDA approval from from the US government within the next, you know, 12 months, I think we'll start to see product coming, you know, within the next two years to shelves, and I believe that if it all comes together the way it looks like it could, it'll happen quickly, because again, they can put massive amounts of food into the system quickly, just by by nature of the business model. Carley Hauck 41:11 Thank you. So I think you probably understand this cycle better than I do. So when we look at Beyond Meat, you know, they started off as an early growth, early growth companies such as some of the ones that you're investing in, and then they, you know, were able to get into this more commercial space where you can see their products, at Whole Foods, at regular grocery stores all over and just egg, which is from the Eat Just company, Josh Tetrick, and whatnot. He's another one of the leaders that I highlight in the book, I've been so pleased to see Just Egg, that particular product in most grocery stores. And now there's, there's more products of Just Egg that are being offered. And I feel curious, like, how do you go from that early growth, to really getting that type of reach? Because that's ultimately what we want. Because the more choices we have, that are available to all these different types of socio economic status, they're in the restaurants, they're in fast food chains, like good catch now is at Long John Silver's, which is awesome. And I think, as impossible burger, I forgot what I mean, that's been a lot of restaurants, but it's also in fast food chains now as well, right? Curt Albright 42:38 That's correct. Yeah. It takes time and capital. I mean, those are those are the ingredients and, and and, you know, good founders and management and, and consumer demand as well, correct? Yeah. Oh, no question. I mean, it could be, it could be the best product known demand. But if it's if the consumers don't want it, or doesn't fill some void, that's not gonna fly off the shelves, and the velocity is what the the retail grocery stores are looking for. So if it's not turning off the shelves, they weren't invited back. Right. Right. But it's exciting to me back to Beyond Meat, I did want to mention that most people kind of have looked at the IPO and look at what's happened in such a short period of time, but I believe they were founded in like, 2009. This was not this was an overnight sensation that wasn't overnight. And so it takes time, it takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of capital. And and that's one of the reasons why I really look for the at those founders, you know, if you find a really strong founder, no matter what their background is that that's heart LED, and really looking at this from a greater good perspective. That means a lot to me, especially coming from where I came from. Carley Hauck 43:46 Definitely. So let's pivot just a little bit. You know, I've heard you use the word that it's an impact fund, how is that different than a regular fund? For our listeners? Curt Albright 44:02 Sure. I mean, so we're a venture capital fund. And we are we invest in early stage, which means that we're typically investing we'll invest in companies that are pre revenue, will invest in their seed to series A, where we look to be fully invested in a company by the time their Series B comes through. So these are not publicly traded, private private companies. On the impact front, I mean, a typical venture capital fund is looking for returns only, I mean, that's it. I mean, it's it's 100% about returns and and so venture capital funds where we get our money from his his investors. And so we have 26 investors in our fund one all aligned all unders you know, it's it's been a great journey from from that front, too. So 25 others and myself are in fund one. And, and there they have, you know, there's a continuum. They all understand why we're doing this. That's their complete drive, return is it important to them others return is very important to them. So that's another reason why for me I want to take big picture I want to the impact is in the food industry and what our mission thesis is all around, you know, making food healthier and removing animals from the food system. The returns I believe will come from who we're trying to put in the marketplace. Those are scalable companies that are all protein oriented centerplate. So if if there, if we come up with three or four more beyond meats, we'll do just fine by our investors, and those returns will get out into the public eye, and hopefully attract a whole lot more investment into this space. And it's already happening. I mean, Oat Just IPO was super successful. We're hearing rumblings that Eat Just and and Impossible, maybe doing IPOs, you know, fairly soon. I mean, it's, the successes are there, there's also huge amounts of money that are waiting out the curve, private equity, late stage investors and venture capital, those are the really big funds, we're a small fund or fund one was a little over 13 million, we're targeting 50 million with our fund too. And we're doing we're trying to stay smaller, so that we can stay in that early stage where I feel like we'll have the greatest impact in helping this entire space. Carley Hauck 46:22 Right, and the more companies and the more founders that are getting into this space, that are successful, we're able to really change the food system. Yep. And that's the goal so that we can have a flourishing planet and our humanity is able to eat in a much more healthy way that's in harmony with the earth. Yeah, I mean, the planet needs to heal. Totally, totally. Curt Albright 46:53 So talk to me a little bit about some of the Good Food Institute, because I know that they're really supporting this movement, nationally, and internationally. And your connection with Bruce? Curt Albright 47:05 Yeah, so I mean, to me, Bruce was kind of like a mentor to me, coming from my unhealthy world into the world of animal welfare. And, and the effects of eating animals from the food system, both in its supply chain and the way it works in and on humans in the planet, I really hadn't made a conscious decision to learn more about that, until that undercover investigation in North Carolina opened my eyes and, and Bruce was just extremely generous in showing me what was happening. And when the Good Food Institute started, I believe they were 2016. So there was a lot going on in that little clump of years. And I'm just there I was, and boy was I lucky. And and so to watch them start, in my opinion, in the US Good Food Institute probably had the biggest influence on the successes of the plant based food industry as a whole. I mean, we have momentum within this space. That's the, you know, we're 10x to growth numbers that are coming out of the food industry as a whole. And so it's really exciting to see the demand, it's really exciting to see the new supply, and they're a nonprofit. So there's not, you know, there's there's no concern about stealing information and that type of thing. They're here to support, the greater good no matter what angle it's coming from. So I see them as a hub of knowledge. So individuals can go to GFI.org and feel good because they're at a nonprofits website, which is there to supply information so that you can make decisions that are right for you and your family. then beyond that, it's a corporate hub. So they help founders found companies, they help investors find those companies, they help investors give data and information into their nonprofit to help them make better choices as to you know, what's the company that's whitespace, that we need to get into the food system as quickly as possible to fill the void. Those types of conversations are conversations that we have, often and and it's very exciting to me now, what they've done over the past, you know, three years is gone completely International. And everything is done strategically. I mean, they've they've gone to markets that needed help, whether that's building bridges to governments that want to actively help our industry because it was healthier for them. And that has happened, they've got boots on the ground in other countries that had volunteers with food connections that might be vital to changing the food system in a country like India, where there's just massive amounts of people and change that needs to happen. So, you know, kudos to the team at GFI because they're tackling something that is just absolutely meant and just doing a stellar job with it. So they they have conferences, they have conferences in other countries, they have hubs set up to help people learn what's going on and make those decisions consciously about what speaks to them the deepest so that they can plug in and be super effective in the work that they're doing to help help make this happen. Carley Hauck 50:18 That's wonderful. Thank you so much, I think that's going to be a really wonderful resource for people listening. And we'll definitely leave a link in the show notes. So what I like to do with each of these interviews is really bring awareness, education, inspiration, but then calls to action. So for people that are listening, that are saying, Wow, I had no idea, you know, how devastating the food agriculture system was on the planet, or my eyes have been opened even more, and I actually really want to make different choices and how I invest, but also how I consume, what might you suggest and we've already talked about some of them, some of these amazing products people can start to buy, but also, if they really wanted to put their money. And and, you know, what we choose to really pay for I think, is kind of a way that we're voting so to speak, how might you suggest people and invest? Curt Albright 51:24 Well, well, okay, there's two different cuz my mind went right to the impact side of it. So yeah, investing, let me hit that. Second. First of all, the easiest thing that we can do as individuals is stop eating animals. I mean, it just is. And it's healthier for us, the planet and for the animals, obviously. And one of my favorite sayings is, is love animals eat plants. And that's how I live my life and boys, and it's empowering. It's empowering to live authentically with my own belief system. So So that's my first invitation. From an investment standpoint, there's a lot of vehicles coming to market. I mean, there's crowdfunding of companies that are happening that are extremely successful, there are rolling funds, which I really don't understand the structure. I'm an old time banker, I have my kind of structured ways of looking at finance and so there's new there's new funds that are coming out that have rolling closes that you can access with lower dollar amounts, we are structured as a traditional venture capital fund so we have a 10 year final and it's and so it's a very planned out easy to kind of understand structure. However, it's not highly regulated compared to my banking career was and so the federal government makes it mandatory that only accredited investors can invest in venture capital funds. And so you can google accredited investor and it can give you the definition of that but but there will be more venture capital funds coming to market we're raising capital for our second fund right now there are at least two or three other aligned funds that are being raised right now. There's so there's so much capital needed into this space. And again, just do your homework. You know, make sure you know the founders, make sure you know, you're aligned with the structure of what you're investing into. And just again, realize that that you're doing more than 98% of the humans walking the face of the earth if you're making conscious decisions to not eat animals. So I cut myself some slack in early vegan when I went vegan in the beginning to realize that I just didn't know before and now I do and I'm doing something about it and yeah, I want to do more but I could burn myself out if I don't paste this it's it's a marathon not a sprint but but I believe the answers are in the food system if we're going to get this thing turned around quickly and you know if I can help anyone access or map out what's going on I'm happy to do so but but there is a lot of information a lot of movies you mentioned Seaspiracy, the same producer did a movie, I guess two or three years previously called Cowspiracy. And Cowspiracy is another one that's just fact based. And Forks Over Knives was one I watched early on that was good for me because of the health issues and there's there's a lot of data and a lot of information out there and invite you to look at it. Carley Hauck 54:23 Definitely. Thank you. Thank you so much, Curt. You know, another thing for folks that are just kind of getting interested in vegetarian or veganism and hopefully many of you are already, you know, one or two feet already in but there's so much wonderful community that I would also say as a benefit. I mean, even myself, so I went into this grocery store yesterday. I've been shopping at it for the last five weeks since I've been in Oregon. And the sales associate that I spoke to who just happened to be, you know, stocking the aisles. I asked about this particular plant based process Good Catch. And, you know, was was talking to her about it and she proclaimed herself to be a vegan. And I said, Oh, well, have you seen this product? And we just started talking about different vegan products that we were both very excited about. And she didn't even know about Good Catch. But she said, Carly, have you checked out the community group here and Bender, that's specifically for vegans, there's a Facebook group, and they have all these gatherings and potlucks and, you know, so it's just very welcoming. And as I was shopping throughout the store, she came back to find me because she wanted to have another conversation. And so I would just say, even if you're, you know, in this time, we're like, I feel we're all really trying to find the meaning, like, why are we here? What are what are we really standing for? And some of these things you might be in a community where you feel passionate about being a vegan or vegetarianism or more, you know, food justice, but there's not a big community and, and there is a community that you could even find online. And maybe that inspires you to move to that community. So I just kind of want to invite people to follow their heart. Follow the the Clear, Current Capital, so to speak, just kidding. Curt Albright 56:35 No, I appreciate it the current. I mean, it's, it's so true. And that spoke deeply to me and identify exactly with what you're saying, because I went through that in the early days and loved it. And that's what we set up in Charlotte through the humane league office that we opened up there. And I ran the Charlotte Veg Fest for five years, and that community was just so tight. And everybody, again, is only kind of a different place. And that's, that's great. But, you know, the bottom line was, is that we had this core belief that, you know, things needed to change, and they needed to change, because there was so much suffering around us and that we were putting inside of ourselves, you know, every day that were alive, and it just didn't have to be that way. So it was very empowering. And, you know, almost any city has a tribe. And I know, I know that, you know, all these nonprofits have recipe booklets, they have all kinds of support and for social media and zoom, now it's so easy to connect with people that, that share your belief systems and are there to really support you not to point fingers or, or any of that stuff. I mean, again, I mean, I came from a complete opposite world. So the last thing I want to do is shame somebody for eating meat. What I want to do is inspire other people to feel the goodness that comes from living an authentic lifestyle. Carley Hauck 57:52 Definitely. Well, Curt, this was such a wonderful interview, I really enjoyed the conversation. One last question that I have is, you know, I know that you've been very much on this spiritual path. And I feel curious as you're leading in such a, what do we want to say exciting, but I'm sure kind of an intense time with all the things and projects, how do you keep yourself balance? Do you use that word at the very beginning? Like what are the practices that are keeping you able to, you know, swim through all the other waves, so to speak, in addition to that, that, I mean, you feel very clear on why you're here and what you're here to do, but I missed that what else is supporting you right now? Curt Albright 58:44 My entire life really, I mean, it's set up because it's, it speaks deeply to me I got remarried to someone who I share core beliefs with, I start every day with prayer meditation. You know, I have my tribe in recovery. I have my tribe in in this world. And I you know, I moved to Florida that was more of a personal choice than anything else. And I resource in nature. And so to resource amongst the palm trees, I kayak on the Indian River. I mean, having that offshoot, I probably don't feed myself those kind of things as much as I would like to just because there's so much that needs to be done but, but I know that when I start getting off my own balance beam, I start feeling it. And and that's not who I want to be. So you know, I have to take care of myself in order to be useful to others. Carley Hauck 59:40 Thank you. Thank you. Is there anything else you'd like to leave our listeners or to share before we end? Curt Albright 59:48 I'm just grateful to be here, I appreciate you inviting me and, you know, again, if there's any way I can be of service to your listeners, to help kind of open up this world. I would love to be there. So our website is clearcurrentcapitital.com and and I think you've put a link up to that and and feel free to put a link to my email. And and I'm on LinkedIn too. So happy to have you to help if anyone is interested in mapping out this side of the world. Thank you for having me. Carley Hauck 1:00:26 Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Curt is a human being I literally feel like I could talk to you for weeks and weeks. Curt, thank you so much for your heart and your commitment to really creating a world that is living in greater harmony with the planet and is supporting all beings to thrive. Thank you for your leadership. If you would like to speak to Curt and learn more about his company Clear Current Capital and how you might support him, his LinkedIn handle is in the show notes. Before we part, I wanted to leave you with some research, some resources and a call to action. So this topic is something that I feel really passionate about, which is why I focused on three different leaders in the space in my book. But I wanted to leave you with some inspiring research. This was published in the peer reviewed journal Foods. This research was led by Dr. Kerry Syngenta of Arizona State University, where it surveyed more than 2000 US consumers and over 2000 Uk consumers to examine attitudes and perceptions of the general population on novel cultivated protein products. It was found in this research that consumers believe that cultivated protein could make up as much as 40% of their future meat intake, and an examined attitudes and adoption of cell based meats among US and UK consumers. The study also found patterns of greater willingness and interest from younger generations to try these products. Though general levels of acceptance was observed across all age groups. Here's another sobering statistic. The United Nations has warned that we have less than a decade left before the most catastrophic effects of climate change are irreversible. One of the reasons that we have these great challenges ahead of us is because it is estimated that 70 to 80% of deforestation in the Amazon is contributed to meat production. But as you heard from the conversation that Curt and I had, if you eat less meat, and you eat more plants, and you vote with your dollars, and you ask for products, that are living in greater harmony with the planet, are supporting the wellbeing of animals, you asked for this in your grocery store and you choose it. This is one of the most significant things that you can do to start to mitigate climate change. be educated and be an active consumer. This is being a conscious inclusive leader. So if you would like a little more education and you'd like some wonderful products to try, here's some resources for you. Three documentary films I highly recommend: Seaspiracy, Meat Me Halfway, and Need to Grow. The producer of Need to Grow was in a previous podcast panel with Josh Tetrick, who is the CEO and co-founder of Eat Just. And he's also one of the leaders in my book, and that is on how to be a courageous leader in the midst of climate change. It's a wonderful panel and I think you might really enjoy it if you liked this conversation. I also would love to recommend my book. In my book, I talk about the pathway of how to be a conscious and inclusive leader but in that there are a lot of practices and a lot of ways we can apply, how to be mindful consumers, how to be eating in a way that's in harmony with animals and the planet. And so there are lots of opportunities to practice if you listen to the audiobook or you purchase the hardcopy. I would also recommend Draw Down as an incredible resource of a book. And there is a new online course of how you can actually follow along in the book that was put out through the Pachamama Alliance earlier this year. And the Pachamama Alliance is an organization I highly respect and the co-founder is Lynne Twist who is an incredible leader and wrote the foreword for my book. I would also recommend the Riddick terian cookbook, which is a new book I discovered and it speaks to 125 plant based meals. And then of course, there's the wonderful Good Food Institute. And then if you want to start eating more plant based foods, you want to reduce your meat consumption. Here are a few of my favorite products that I could not live without. So I'm a big fan of the Just Egg for me eat just I eat it a few times a week. I also really like Good Catch, which is a plant based seafood alternative. Abbott's Butcher has this plant based chorizo, I don't even like real sausage I've never had but they're plant based version is amazing. And Sweet Earth is also wonderful. They have a wonderful plant based sausage again, I've never really gotten into real sausages but their sausages are great. They taste like vegetables but kind of smoky and I love the taste of vegetables. Miyokose is a dairy free cheese. REBBL is another one of the companies and leaders I highlight in my book and they have some incredible smoothie and plant based elixirs that are full of superfoods. There's Omnifoods, there's Alphafoods, there's incredible products by Beyond Meat. Light Life has a really wonderful tempeh that I use all the time.Wholy Veggie is a new product that I just discovered, which is in the frozen food section and it's gluten free and vegetables. I am also recommending all products that are gluten free because I have had a gluten allergy since I was a little girl so I don't eat any dairy and I don't eat any gluten. And then my absolute favorite chocolate which is just honey and rocket cow is Honey Mamas. If you have not experienced them, they're amazing. I keep trying to get them in the North Carolina Whole Foods and they have refused but they are missing out. Luckily the West Coast knows what it's out what's up because I can find it out here. It's a little bit challenging to find it on the east coast. But hopefully with this podcast that will change. And then I also have plant based smoothies in the morning for breakfast most days. And I use Good Karma which is a flaxseed, protein milk that I really love. So there it is, those are some of my suggestions. And if you're feeling inspired to bring more of this topic or conversation to your company or organization and you want to create a culture while being an inspired, conscious, inclusive leadership, please reach out to me I'd love to talk to you and you can book a free consultation and the link is in the show notes. Until we meet again. I wish you good health, a nourishing summer and I have lots of incredible podcast interviews coming your way to keep you inspired so that you can be the light and shine the light.

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The First Step to Human Centered Leadership with Nisha Paliwal

Pink Noise: Amplify Your Gold

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2021 42:49

Nisha Paliwal, Managing VP of Engineering at Capital One is bold and authentic, who believes in human centered leadership. She is an emerging leader in Technology, Nisha is a visionary technologist and passionate change agent. Nisha joined Capital One in 2015 in Finance Tech, moved on to Small Business Tech and is now the Vice President of Software Engineering in Card, where she is leading the transformation of Core Modernization. At Capital One, she leads the enterprise Women in Tech Task Force, focusing on retention, development and leadership through empowerHER. She leads her team with heart in every interaction, from listening, supporting them to feel valued, engaged, and instilling psychological safety so they can bring their whole selves to work. Nisha's passion is empowering others and, in that vein, is a mentor to many and volunteers her personal time with CodeVa, which focuses on STEM education for K -12. On this podcast interview, Nisha and I speak about the importance of learning, leading with love, curiosity, how to stay connected to ourselves, to our teams, and our families in this time of uncertainty. We also explore the practices that keep us grounded so we can continue to shine our light in the greatest of ways at work and in the world. The First Step to Human Centered Leadership with Nisha Paliwal SEO Description: Nisha Paliwal, Managing VP of Engineering at Capital One is bold and authentic, who believes in human centered leaders. She leads her team with heart in every interaction, from listening, supporting them to feel valued, engaged, and instilling psychological safety so they can bring their whole selves to work. On this podcast interview, Nisha and I speak about the importance of learning, leading with love, curiosity, how to stay connected to ourselves, to our teams, and our families in this time of uncertainty. We also explore the practices that keep us grounded so we can continue to shine our light in the greatest of ways at work and in the world. Resources mentioned in this episode: Nisha LinkedIn empowerHER Conscious & Inclusive Leadership Retreat Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck, your host of the SHINE podcast. Welcome to another wonderful episode. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious, inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. I will be facilitating three powerful episodes a month. Before I tell you about our topic today. If you would be willing to go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button. And if you love this interview, please write a positive review. It helps so much. Thank you. Our topic for today is the first step of human centered leadership with Nisha Paliwal. Nisha Paliwal is managing Vice President at Capital One. She and I connected because she found my book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World and shared it with her community on LinkedIn. This was a few months ago in April 2021. I felt touched by her acknowledgment and reached out and wanted to get to know her and hear more about how the book had positively impacted her and her leadership. After a few conversations with Nisha, it just felt like such an incredible opportunity to bring this conscious, inclusive and heart centered leader onto the podcast so that I could share her story with you all. Let me tell you a little bit about Nisha and our interview. Nisha is an emerging leader in technology, a visionary, technologist and passionate change agent. She joined Capital One in 2015 in finance tech, moved on to small business tech, and is now the managing Vice President at Capital One of software engineering in card where she is leading the transformation of core modernization. She leaves the enterprise women in tech tax force focusing on retention development and leadership through empowerHER. Nisha also has a big heart for her associates and desires for them to feel valued, engaged, and psychologically safe so they can bring their whole selves to work. Nisha's passion is empowering others and in that vein, she is a mentor to many, and volunteers her personal time with code VA, which focuses on STEM education for K through 12. She is also a proud mom to Anya, 16 and Yoshi, 12. In this interview, Nisha and I speak about her passion for learning, personal and professional development, how she manages a large team of 450 team members. And then her direct senior reports of six. She leads with authenticity, love, and weekly notes that really share her experience, vulnerability and support to everyone to feel connected, and that she's always accessible and available to them. We talk about what practices have supported her through the pandemic, and what continues to help her shine her light in the best of ways at work and at home, starting with strong mentorship, the circle of people she surrounds herself with and her daily meditation practice. There are so many gems in this interview you don't want to miss. Carley Hauck 03:55 Thank you for joining the SHINE Podcast. I am here with a courageous and authentic leader, Nisha Paliwal. Nisha, thank you so much for being with me today. Carly, it's such a pleasure to be with you this afternoon. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Well, one of the first questions that I often ask leaders that join me is what does conscious and inclusive leadership mean to you? Nisha Paliwal 04:21 Yeah, great question. So three things. Being conscious means to me that I know myself. I know my feelings. I know how I'm reacting to things. So I'm aware of my surroundings. I'm aware of my inner self. And I'm aware of my behaviors because that subconsciousness is a lot about me, my surroundings and my behavior towards the surrounding. Inclusivity is more to me is about how I'm making sure that in decision making that in bringing people along, how am I doing that? How am I making sure that they are all feeling that they are included in the decision making, that they are included in getting appreciation, that they are included in being part of the team. And the last one to wrap up both the consciousness and the inclusivity. What this has meant to me, is what you started with, which is literally ABC for me, authenticity, being bold, and being courageous. Carley Hauck 05:44 Authenticity, being bold and being courageous. Lovely. Lovely. Yeah. And on your LinkedIn profile, you have a bold change agent. Tell me more about that. What does that mean to you, why'd you pick that? Nisha Paliwal 06:01 Yeah, and before I answer the question, let me tell you a little bit about my background, which is where this all comes from. So my dad worked for a commercial bank in India for 40 years. And every three years he decided to take the deputation, meaning going from places to places for his work. And he did that. Probably based on his career aspirations, or what but he rose in that company from almost being an associate to a pretty senior, I think when I was CEO of the company, pretty large company, pretty large bank, same company, right. But what that did to me was like, I'm moving from place to place all my schooling, making new friends, learning new culture. And the big aha moment was one time we actually moved from should compare. So we moved from Rock Hill, South Carolina, all the way to New York City to comparison wise, right in India. And that was a big shock to me. Oh, my gosh, how can we move from, you know, Big City, New York to you know, South Carolina Rock Hill, right? I couldn't anticipate me and my sister, my sister was one and a half years older than me. So we were very close. We plunged into that with him, we were still like, going into high school. We didn't know the school, we didn't know the people. But the aha moment was the culture that we learned of this new place, new small town, right? The friends we made, they are still my friends right, from that time to this time. And I think from that time, the change agency is kind of beaten in me. I love the aspect of exploration. I love the aspect of meeting new people. I love the aspect of learning, which is a big payment. My life is constantly learning, learning people, learning their culture and learning what brings them together. So yeah, I think change agency is a big part of who I am, I often say, if you did not know me by my first name, you know me as a change agent. Carley Hauck 08:10 Hmm, thank you for sharing your background around the history with your father, and working in banking and moving from New York to South Carolina, and even your ability to stay connected with those people from childhood. And then your love of learning. And often I say leaders are learners. And I feel like if we're not continually investing in our personal and professional growth, then we're not going to be able to be the best leaders. And I know from having conversations with you, you have this voracious appetite for learning. And that's actually how you and I first became connected because you read my book, and you really loved my book. And I feel so grateful that it has benefited you. That was the big reason that I wrote it was to really support leaders like yourself, to shine in the best of ways and to really support your team and your company through uncertainty through ambiguity, ambiguity through complexity. And we've been experiencing a lot of that. We always have but even maybe more so in the last year since the pandemic, and so I'd love to talk a little bit more about your role a Capital One, the team members that you support, and actually how you feel like you've been able to be an authentic heartful courageous leader in the last year. That's kind of a big question, but we'll start there. Nisha Paliwal 09:50 Yeah, no, definitely. And I think you're right last year has tested, tested a lot of us in many, many ways and leadership is wonderful. Of course where the demand was high people were looking at us for many, many answers through the pandemic, to the global events that happened in the United States, in India. And like there was an endless list of things where we often look to our leaders like what are we supposed to do? What are we doing? Where are we going? Right? And how do we cope up to all this? And, and one thing is very true about me, I often say I don't have all the answers. But what I have is what I say tooling, right. And back to the learning that you said, all these tools that I use on a constant basis to keep informed to say how to pivot, right. So books are huge. You already mentioned, your book was one of the fantastic reads I had, and so did many other books that I read podcasts, there's my favorite ways to connect to different cultures, different mentors, and hear what everybody is doing. And with the team, I started some practice, which is really very fulfilling. What I do is every Monday morning, I write them a letter. And the letter consists of two things. One is my own learning, and how that has impacted. So when I read your book, I went and shared that Monday like to kind of read this book, and this is what it's all about. And so I do for many other topics. So whatever I have learned in the week, I will share back, whatever I'm feeling I share back. So the connection of how I'm feeling, and I go down very deep, I be, I be very vulnerable, because there were days last year, I feel like I don't have it together. And frankly, even now, right 16 months being in the basement. So what I do for Capital One, is I run a very critical piece of infrastructure, which supports our card issuance. So meaning every time Carly, you're swiping your credit card, you're talking to me. So at the intensity, right, so we have about 6000 transactions per second that hit my infrastructure. So it's very intense, right? It's 24/7, the job is very intense. And on top of it, you have this pandemic that's going on, right. So I would share my feelings in those letters, I would share how I am and I am about 450 people who work for me. And I would share, right like how I'm feeling and how I'm coping up with that. I felt like those. And then on a weekly basis, not everybody responds, but there will be a handful of them. Right? Like you were mentioning, you wrote the book to impact and let us shine the light. And by the way, I love the title of the book. Thank you, I feel like that's what our job as leaders is like sharing how you are doing, sharing how you are coping up, and still bring the lightness in the in the moment and being admitting where you might not be at the right spot somebody else might be and be open to receiving from others as well. It's not just about leader as leaders, I feel like we sometimes feel our job is to only give good, good, right. And I think this is where again, my my learning mindset helps me is like, how do I receive from people on that? And there are a lot of people in those letters who will respond, right? And who will say, and then I will catch up with them on a different zoom call or however, the phone call. So that's been my cadence. And that has really helped me stay connected with the team. keep improving, keep learning and continuously make progress because I think so much unknown Carley these days, right? It's just so much uncertainty about everything. But it's about making progress every step of the way. And how do we make sure we do that collectively, right? Carley Hauck 13:45 Well, thank you for sharing that. I love the idea that you were sending letters to your team of 450 every week, and just sharing authentically what you were learning and what you were experiencing. When you were talking about really sharing vulnerability about your feelings? No, this is one of the things that I write about in the book, but also that's showcased in the research when leaders showcase their vulnerability, and especially when they're really speaking to their emotions. They're giving other people on their team permission to feel and permission to also be vulnerable and authentic. And it lets people know that you're doing the best that you can as well. And I think that imparts a level of accessibility, and a level of just the ability that like I can go to this leader and I don't have to have it all together. And I think it just makes you more human, so to speak. You know, you're being a more human centered leader. Nisha Paliwal 14:57 Yeah, I think that's what, I think you talk about in your book. I think Amy Edmondson has talked about this quite a bit right? As humans, we feel like we are always judged. But when you can actually talk to a leader, and I get this comment often, I am at a very senior position at Capital One, I often get because of my title, like people like, oh, at your level, we can come still talk to you. And I'm talking to people at every level of the organization who can come talk to me. To your point, right? The doors are always open, Slack is always there. I always find time for people, that busy card, I never play that busy card, right? If I'm not helping my people, if I'm not there for my people, then what am I doing? I'm busy, useless then, right? So my philosophy is my prioritization is all about people and going and clearly reaching out or when they reach out responding to them. Because that's when they are able to put their guards down, that, hey, no judgment will be passed to us just because she's a VP. And we can talk to her, right? So I think that is becoming more and more critical. Why? Because during the pandemic, many things are being shut down from us, right, those human connections, the human touch, that we used to have, if you're feeling sad, we can give a hug to each other, and feel better about it. But that's all gone. Right. So what is left is these zoom calls and phone calls that are left and, and we need to be able to extend that warmth and love to the humans that we interact with. And so I feel like at the end, of course, you know, at work, some of those, you know, being vulnerable with those feelings. Sometimes it's, you know, it hurts, right? To be vulnerable, because it hurts to, you know, tell who you are truly, and be able to share it. So I try to Carley, I try, I try my best. Carley Hauck 16:50 It's interesting how you use the word ‘hurts', because I actually feel a little differently in that when I am able to express my feelings, and I'm able to create space, to allow others to express, there's actually usually more healing that happens. And I know you and I were using that word before we started the recording. You know, often I've thought of myself in the roles that I've come into when I worked as a leadership and organizational development consultant. And I've worked with a lot of HR business partners and supported manager and leadership development programs that I feel like I'm often coming in because they is suffering happening. And I'm coming in as a healer, so to speak, to apply different interventions, different trainings, whether that's increasing psychological safety or supporting more inclusion in the way that we are, you know, choosing our stories in our narratives, or even in the way that we're communicating. And so, going back to the word of hurt, do you really think it's been hurt? Or has it been healing for you to share and for you to also hear other people share their feelings? Nisha Paliwal 18:08 Yeah, no, give you a perfect story of why I use that word and my own example. So yeah, I was at Capital One. And I lost my eldest sister, five, five years ago now in a mobile accident, and it was very sudden. I was calling from India that she's gone, I must take the next flight and go back home. I left everything as is at work and went home to support my parents and of course, review her last rites. When I came back, I just couldn't speak to anybody. I was in shell shock. She was only a year and a half older to me, even today, I can probably cry telling you the story, but she was very close to me, right? So being able to share about her would hurt a lot. This is the beauty of your leaders and the ecosystem if they are in the right place, what they can do for you. And actually, at that time, I had a director, unfortunately, he also lost his sister who was also very close to him. Now he is in New York and I'm coming back from India. Right and one fine day we just talked to each other. We just opened up. We both probably cried for hours and we opened up right and that's when that's when you are using the word heal. Healing happened when we were able to open up and be heard, and all that while because you are at work. Can you actually do that? Not really, because it's a you know, corporate America it's a work environment. Can you actually cry at work? Or how are you going to people be taking you right? And that's the day today's day is very good friend is still at Capital One and and then it was it became easier for a period of time and I'm able to now more open share her story and talk about it. But I'll tell you first few months coming back with that kind of loss and tragedy, it was hurtful. And I did not know. Can I tell? And I just joined Capital One, right? So it was not like I can Can I can I not right. And I've not made friendships, I didn't know. Carley Hauck 20:25 You didn't know if it was safe, right would people hold it against you? What's their psychological safety to be able to be that, that brave and authentic? Nisha Paliwal 20:30 Exactly. That is the point, right is up is the whole point about relationship building and being able to trust each other and say, Hey, can I and that's why, as a leader, my job is to make sure I create that space, but we can have hardest of conversation and not feel like we are being judged. Right. And this place actually offers many, many training and materials. And I think we are trying to bring you as well, like, this is a theme here, right? Still people being able to share being vulnerable, and to not worry about boundaries. Right? Carley Hauck 21:05 Right. And having the leaders like yourself, that again, are leaving from that place are showing, I'm available to really talk to you, I'm available to connect, you know, even in the midst of this very difficult, challenging time. And that creates more safety where people really, they test it, they test Well, can I really share this with her or with my team? And then they wait to see, what's the impact? What's the reaction? Oh, that was safe. And then they try again. And then they lean a little bit further, right. And so it evolves over time. But first, I just want to say thank you so much for sharing, about the context of why you use the word hurt. And also I just feel really touched, hearing this beautiful bond that you made with this other team member because of your willingness to share. And then he was able to join you in a very shared lived experience. And it sounds like that has created a relationship that has really lasted over years. Nisha Paliwal 22:30 Yeah, and I think it lasts for life. I think I don't give off I guess. So you're in trouble. You're with me for the rest of the life. Carley Hauck 22:34 Well, I would say he's lucky. He's got some very good company. Wonderful. Well, let's, let's shift a little bit. Back to this letter. I feel so curious. When you're sharing these feelings and being more vulnerable. If you're willing to share without breaking any safety yet, we don't need to say any names. But what were some of the responses that you received from team members that stood out to you? Nisha Paliwal 22:59 Yeah, so I think what time I must have, for this week, actually, this week I shared. I talked to my boss, my first boss in India. I'm still friends with him as my agency friends. He's my mentor. And he is a compulsive, optimist and voracious reader. That's where I get my reading from actually. So optimist and what is what is his name, by the way, if we're going to give him a little light, Mr. Kadisha, we should definitely give him light, he was my first boss, and a lot of credit really goes to him. So I was sharing about him in my letter, and actually, I have 1996, he used to write these handwritten letters to us at that time when I used to look for him. So I have that in a picture. So I shared that picture and the letter with everybody. And I was talking about coaching in general and how we all can be coaches, we just have to find one in ourselves. And the coaches that have impacted me personally have been those who have connected from heart. And he is one of them. That's why I still talk to him. It was his birthday. So I gave him a call. And we had a long chat over many topics. So I was sharing and many employees actually many of my teammates, I should say responded back saying things like, you know, thank you for sharing how wonderful this mentor of yours or coach or manager was and how they find me doing a lot of those things for them that I don't realize sometimes that I do coach in the moment right and it's it's through the through the letter. So I received some of those, you know, assurances sort of trial, that hey, how this can positively impact and back to your book title, right? I always remember that shine is to code this shine through some other contexts, but it's really about how we can pass that light to each other, and how we can make this brighter place, you know, through through that connections, having, I didn't even have to go through I mean, if you talk to, I call him Sir, if you talk to some of my Sir, you will hear how much how much he went through his life right from life threatening disease to many things, right. But how he has been able to coach me and many others probably right? to spread this light back to your book shine, right? That's what it is like being a leader about is like being able to spread the light amidst how much darkness or uncertainty or what might be around. So I got several of the my ones shared on Mother's Day I shared about my mom, she has been a stay at home mom, there was a picture of one time she wore pants and shirt, she never wear pants and shirt. That was a one time she will whenever I wasn't born, there was a picture of her. So I said that picture with everybody. And I told them how selflessly she has served entire life. And even today she does, right. And in India, it's pretty common for mothers not to work and be at home and so I was sharing about her and how. And they were like reflecting how I have some of those qualities of selflessness. Like you got to stop thinking like mothers, right? Mothers don't think about them. Many times they think about the kids and it's all about kids, right? I say the workplace needs to be more of a family. Right? So I reflect back on some of that and say, Can workplace be we say it is like family? But can it be family? Right? We do so much for our family. If you think about it, mothers do so much for the kids and right is parenting slash so many things mixed into leadership, right. Carley Hauck 26:54 And we spend so much of our time at work. And now in the midst of the pandemic and the future of work, which is going to be remote and hybrid. We are spending so much time at home and at work, right? We bring our whole selves to work at home and we're in each other's living rooms and basements. And there's really not any separation. And so I love the idea of how do we create family and treat each other like family, you know, with love, with care. And I think those are the teams and the companies that are going to be most successful. Why would we want to work for a team that we didn't feel like had our backs or where we couldn't bring our whole selves? Or we weren't feeling empowered to bring our light, right because we can all you know do it on our own. We have to be sharing their load, their responsibilities. And, and the wonderful, you know, delights of work together. Nisha Paliwal 28:00 Yeah, yeah, truly, I mean, one of my colleagues here, her name is Maureen. She often uses the word I love you. Right. And my entire, you know, body sparkles when she says that, like that is so much affection for teammates. And you know, how much do you hear that in corporate America? I love you. Right. There's not a common theme here. But yeah, that I'm talking about, I think Simon Simon Sinek also talks in many of his podcasts about how there's a difference between military life and the corporate america lifeline. But yeah, my effort is my hope is every day I leave work, people feel that they are more attached. And just this morning, one of my directors, Rakesh Dyer, was telling me how this place feels like a family. I'm like, why does it just feel like a family. Why is it not a family? Because he's feeling that he's feeling the love is feeling the connection is feeling the right. So it's fascinating for me that we have a lot of work to do to create that work environment, but work in progress. Carley Hauck 29:08 So I hear that one of your direct reports Rakesh was sharing that it feels like family, that the team that he's on with you. That's lovely. Nisha Paliwal 29:25 Yeah, I think the word how he shared with me this morning is like earlier, it used to feel like project and delivery and you know, we are doing it. And we would I mean, all the people who are smart will probably get the word done. work is never really problem for smart people. Right? It's taking time to build the relationship, taking time to share about each other's values, the culture and the rules that they live by. Right. So he was telling me the last whole year has been feeling more connection and more association with each other knowing not just Hey, the world can be architects or whatever. Delivering, we have, by the way, very high performing teams, it's not like they cannot deliver. But what can go above and beyond the delivery here and now, right, and being able to build those long lasting relationships, as I call them. So my childhood friend is still my friend, my first boss is still Mike coach, like they cannot dismiss their role in my life. Right. And they probably continue for a long time. So yeah, that I was excited to hear that he's, he's feeling different. And he was able to share that with me. Carley Hauck 30:35 Well, I feel so curious. You know, I know that in the book, there is a focus on the inner game, which is really these qualities on the inside, that we're growing so that we can be a conscious and inclusive leader on the outside. And you and I have spoken about this, you know, offline. But some of those qualities that I really highlight in the book are self awareness, and emotional intelligence, and empathy and resilience, and well being, love and authenticity. And when you think about the qualities that you have developed on the inside, that support you to lead in this way. I mean, I, I know you have a lot on your plate, you know, you, you've got two children, you've got this team of 450, you have a mentor in India and a childhood friend in South Carolina and all these people that you're staying connected to. And I just wonder how do you make time for yourself for your learning? For all these people? Like what are those qualities that enable you to show up in this way? Nisha Paliwal 31:46 Yeah, so. So I'll share a few things. My dad is my life coach. Of course, mom is mom. But that has taught me so many things. And one of the wonderful things he taught me, which I was sharing with you, I think if we have common, I probably did started younger than you. But he started coaching us into yoga and meditation, probably from 10 or 12. So we were both of us, we also used to play badminton. So we were very big into sports as well. So at that time, it was like, of course, you have to force us to do any yoga and meditation, but he kept us teaching. So he's himself a teacher of art of living, which is a breathing? Oh, yes, yes, I'm very familiar. He's a teacher, he started teaching us from a very early age, I'll tell you, I did not get the sense and what it can do for me for years, because practice is what takes. Meditation, as you know, is what it takes. And as you said, my job is pretty high profile, I'm always on very, very high energy. And sometimes that's a negative but that energy largely comes from my practice of yoga meditation, I get up very early in the morning. So I'm up at 4 or 4:30am, I spend a lot of time on my physical health. So that's cardio first thing in the morning, and, you know, running whatever I do, I do mostly running outside, but many exercises inside the house, then I spent a lot of time in this spiritual thinking and making sure I calm down my focus. You know, that's why I think in studies also, when I used to get up early morning, it really helped me focus and really bring that and you started, right, you started this podcast with the mindfulness, right? That's what we do that here. And I'm so proud that you're practicing that from a young age as well. Then I spend time on reading, because that's my learning time as well. So that four to seven in the morning is so described, like prescribed time for me, and it has been for many, many years, that I'm not ready to give up, right, that self care that I need. And in some cases where I have a sorrow or a heart, then in that morning time, I also reflect I also think about how truly am I feeling? Because I don't want to go to work at 7, 7:30 whenever my work starts with the heart that is sinking and it's not like many people you talk to my all hands mostly starts with the jumping jacks, for example, right? Like I do things which is high energy, and I want them to feel that energy, right? Because if you go to meetings with a sunken heart or us I'm not saying I'm not a human, I always have that. But that time in the morning Carley helps me really balanced myself on from all angles. And many of they of course my life coach My dad is a phone call away so many days during the pandemic last year. I called him every day and of course, we had the unfortunate news that he suffered from third stage lymphoma. During this time, unfortunately, I couldn't be physically with him, but he used to get on phone and so much positivity again, right like the healing part that you said that you will do the treatment of course, he went through the treatment, chemo and everything. But he's so much believer in this positive strokes and, and you get that first thing in the morning from your life coach, guess what, how your day goes? a supersonic jet, right. So Those are very fortunate between, you know, books like yours pod pay positive podcast, and some of the coaches and who I have in my life has been really, really instrumental in making who I am today. Carley Hauck 35:48 Wonderful. So what I'm hearing is that you've really prioritized this time for your own learning for your own spiritual development, this 4:30 to seven time, most people would not want to get up that early. But I hear that that's really been your commitment to you. And is one of the reasons that you're able to show up so bright, and in your life as a leader, but also as a human being. And I also hear that the circle of people that you surround yourself with, empower you, they encourage you maybe to push yourself harder, but harder, and maybe harder is not the right word, I would say, challenge you to be better, challenge you to be more positive. Nisha Paliwal 36:47 Yeah, they are the fuel. They're the goal in my life. So they definitely fuel my life in many, many positive ways. So unfortunate. Carley Hauck 36:52 Well, before we go, cuz I know we could talk for a very long time, and I hope we will be able to have more conversations offline, I would, I would love to stay connected and see how I can best support you. And I know that you feel really passionate about women and tech. Could you tell me a little bit more about that? Nisha Paliwal 37:15 Yeah, because when I came to this country, frankly, I found myself very lonely in the field of technology. But again, being as fortunate as I am, your draft, who was my first manager here in the United States, I still talk to him again, relationship. So I'm in touch with him. He taught me a lot of things. Of course, I'm very in depth with what whatever he has taught me. But I found as I grew in my career, lesser and lesser women, were in the collective. And then of course, I learned that not a lot of school kids want to even go to technology, because that's a geeky route, why do I want to go in technology. So I took upon this audacious goal, that delay, I'm going to survive, I'm going to really spend a lot of time in developing retaining that talent for all of us. So that one, I can stop the pipeline that is leaking, meaning bringing the school aged kids to be interested, including my own daughter, who is very, very interested in technology, the younger one is or two is already a technologist. and many others will look upon me as a role model and bringing them to the workforce, and try to help them with whether by like, what worked for me what didn't work for me and being, you know, in the coach and a mentor capacity, and in some cases, being responsible for them, because at my level, that's expected that I can actually bring them along in the journey, right? So yeah, I'm very passionate. So that's a whole, like you said, hold a conversation. I'm right now spearheading a part time workforce at Capital One, I'm really hoping that gets kicked off. And a couple places in the globe. There's an Indian bank, and there's a UK company that I'm talking to. So I'm really hoping that we can retain and bring this much needed diversity in technology field. Carley Hauck 39:12 Wonderful, wonderful. I look forward to seeing how that continues to go. I really appreciate your time today and you sharing your story and your light. I know it's going to empower and influence many people. Is there anything else you'd like to leave people with our ways to get in touch with you? Nisha Paliwal 39:35 Yeah, one, of course. So don't touch like we had touched in LinkedIn. Like you said, One, I would say definitely read your book. So for all the audience, it's such a practical and a complete book. It has all the chapters that I would want for holistic care wholesome, right. I think to me, the book came across as all the topics we are dealing with and how to really get yourself together. So one I would say definitely read your book. I'm also trying to get you to speak to some of the Capital One teams, I'm really hoping they can benefit. And second, I think the way I've heard your podcast and I'm gonna end like that, because I really like it, which is let's shine our light together. Carley Hauck 40:22 Ah, yes, let's do that. Let's shine it in the ways that business can really be a force for good in the world. Yes. Thank you so much. Carley. What a beautiful interview. Thank you Nisha, for being the conscious, inclusive leader you are, if you want to connect with Nisha, her LinkedIn handle will be in the show notes. As you heard, Nisha, and I first connected because she had read my new book SHINE. And I would love for you to add this to your summer reading list. It's available in hardcover and audio book, it will support you to be the kind of leader our world needs now. So that you can bring new tools and inspiration to this remote, hybrid future of work. And the links are in the show notes for SHINE. Additionally, if you're interested in learning how to cultivate conscious, inclusive leaders at your organization, you want to build psychological safety, have high performing teams and a flourishing, inclusive culture, for this future of work. As we are all navigating the uncertainty, please reach out to me this is what I specialize in. I offer trainings, assessments and larger scale programs to support you and your business to align your values with your mission. So the business can truly be a healing organization and a force for good in the world. If you're seeking someone to support you in a more full time capacity in these topics, please feel free to contact me. I would be happy to book a free consultation with you or put you in touch with someone who can help because I have a big network and I love to help people. Thank you again for listening to this episode and the SHINE podcast. It's wonderful to have you as part of my community. And if you have questions, or suggestions for other topics, feel free to reach out support at Carley Hauck dot come and until we meet again, be the light and shine the light.

PN_39 consciously leading with Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2021 51:29

"What I feel most passionate about is supporting leaders, managers, and teams to bring their best and whole self to the new world of work that is in service of a mission prioritizing people and planet. " says guest Carley Hauck as she describes why it all begins with psychological safety. From there we dive into conversations about race and white privilege, how and where we learn about it, including the impact of remaining uninformed, and how I grew up thinking racism wasn't an issue, simply because I didn't know any better. I share how this is no longer acceptable for me to remain in the dark. Carley then leads us into her heartbeat topic of climate change, and how the responsibility to maintain planet health is on each and every one of us, just like the responsibility to maintain our own personal health. She helps me to see how these two actions are not separate. We are not separate... each other... from the planet... from all living things. So many resources to reference from this conversation. First up, links to contact Carley directly : www.carleyhauck.com Her book "shine" : https://carleyhauck.com/shinebook Her panel of conscious climate change activists that I watched : https://carleyhauck.com/podcast/how-to-be-a-courageous-leader-amidst-climate-change Lynne Twist : soul of money https://soulofmoney.org/ book : beyond allies https://www.amazon.ca/Beyond-Ally-Pursuit-Racial-Justice/dp/1951591380 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs : https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html The documentary that educated me about what happened to native american (and canadian) Indian tribes, at the hands of white people (thanks to my guide, Chris Savory!) : https://upstanderproject.org/dawnland

indian hierarchy consciously carley hauck

Game On — Renewable Investing for the Soul of Humanity

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2021 57:03

How can we commit to renewable investing as individuals, businesses, shareholders, and customers? This is the topic of the Shine podcast this week with my friend Joel Solomon. Joel is a Co Founding Partner of Renewal Funds, Canada's largest mission venture capital firm, at over $200m assets under management. Investing in Organics and Environmental & Climate Technology in Canada and the USA, Renewal Funds is GIIRS-rated, a founding Canadian B Corp (5x “Best for the World”), a “1% for the Planet” member, recognized as ImpactAssets “Top 50 impact fund managers.” In this episode, we talk about what a conscious and inclusive leader is. Joel's early childhood and being diagnosed with a fatal disease and how that shaped the course of his life and purpose to really be a force for good in the world. We talk about the necessary intentionality, inquiry, and consciousness needed now, a year after the pandemic for individuals, businesses, shareholders and customers. Joel is the author of the clean money revolution, reinventing purpose, power, and capitalism. Game On — Renewable Investing for the Soul of Humanity SEO Description: How can we commit to renewable investing as individuals, businesses, shareholders, and customers? This is the topic of the Shine podcast this week with my friend Joel Solomon. Joel is a Co Founding Partner of Renewal Funds, Canada's largest mission venture capital firm. In this episode, we talk about what a conscious and inclusive leader is. Joel's early childhood and being diagnosed with a fatal disease and how that shaped the course of his life and purpose to really be a force for good in the world. We talk about the necessary intentionality, inquiry, and consciousness needed now, a year after the pandemic for individuals, businesses, shareholders and customers. Joel is the author of the clean money revolution, reinventing purpose, power, and capitalism. Resources mentioned in this episode: Conscious & Inclusive Leadership Retreat Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, this is Carley Hauck and welcome to another great episode of the Shine podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things — conscious and inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams, and awareness practices. These three things are more important than ever in this new remote hybrid version of work. And I will be facilitating three episodes a month. And before I tell you about our incredible topic today, I would love if you could go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button and write a positive review. If you love this episode, or if you've loved other episodes, it helps so much. Thank you. Our topic for today is titled “Game On — Renewable Investing for the Soul of Humanity”. I am with my friend and colleague Joel Solomon. He is a co-founding partner of renewal funds Canada's largest mission venture capital firm, and over $200 million assets under management. They invest in organics and environmental and climate technology in Canada and the USA. Renewal Funds is a GIIRS-rated founding Canadian B Corp five times best for the world. It is also a 1% for the planet member recognized as impact assets top 50 impact fund managers. Some of the companies that Renewal Funds invest in are some of my favorite seventh generation before it exited and was acquired by Unilever; sweet Earth, their plant based sausages are amazing. I highly recommend and they were one of renewal funds companies as well before Nestle acquired them. And there's also goddess garden which happens to be an eco sustainable, friendly sunscreen that I use often especially in the summer months, and there are so many more. Joel is also the author of The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Purpose, Power and Capitalism. In this episode, we talk about what a conscious and inclusive leader is. Joel's early childhood and being diagnosed with the fatal disease and how that shaped the course of his life and purpose to really be a force for good in the world. We talk about the necessary intentionality, inquiry and consciousness needed now, a year after the pandemic for businesses, individuals, shareholders and customers. We speak about what a just economy is and how to invest in a regenerative way. This episode is full of inspiration and gems. Thanks for tuning in. 03:17 Hello. I am here with my new friend Joel Solomon. Joel, thank you so much for being here. It's really a great pleasure. So one of the questions that I often ask folks that come on to the podcast, this is usually the first one is Joel, what does conscious and inclusive leadership mean to you? Joel Solomon 03:42 It means caring. It means empathy and support for people. It means a standard of integrity and self examination. That's essential. Thus, lifelong learning. It means paying attention to the larger ecosystem that whatever leadership we're involved with. Everything is part of context. And it's important to go as far as we can about the immediate, but the history behind that, why the world is the way it is about certain topics. And what can serve the people that work on whatever the project is, and the end user or the people that are affected by that work. And to me that's part of holistic living. That's part of being a good human being and working to figure out our purpose. I think learning what values go along with that, what we do in difficult situations, and what our true integrity is, what do we care about? What are we willing to do to act with deep values and consistent commitment? And always thinking about the long term as well as the immediate. Carley Hauck 05:33 Wonderful, thank you. You used some really great words there — curiosity, care, looking at the immediate, the long term, recognizing the impact that you're having, I heard purpose. And what is inherent in what you said, is, is being part of a system, you said, holistic, but really noticing how your part is impacting all the other parts is also what I heard. And I know that that's been a bigger part of your path is this integration of systems. And I know a little bit more of your early history. And I'm wondering if you might be willing to share more around your motivation, and your commitment to renewable funds to really, you know, focusing on a more regenerative way of social investing? Could you start with how that all came to be? Joel Solomon 06:34 Well, I have to go back to the roots a bit of family life. I grew up in a small city in the South Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the 50s and 60s. Both sides of my family came from Eastern Europe, Russia, Jewish immigrants, on my mother's side, from the mid 19th century, and my father's in the early 20th century. And they, their families, came from people, and places where it was not safe and welcoming for them. And they were effectively either pushed or determined that it would be a smart idea to go somewhere else. So they had to leave behind their lineage history, and the villages and places that they lived in, to try to find a better life, the same story that is endemic to the idea of America. And that followed a history that we could talk about, but I'll just refer to as a time where people from far away came and took, took the natural resources and pushed aside the people that have lived and had lived with them for many centuries. And so it's a constant story around the planet of people being displaced, and finding a new home and then doing the very best that they can for their families, their children, and for their communities. Human spirit is full of the desire to do better, make things better, make it safer when possible. And the people that I come from, also believed in citizenship and being involved in the issues of society and serving in roles that might matter. So, I'll save some of the story and just say that my parents ended up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My mother was unique in being influenced by the late 50s, early 60s feminism. She had careers when few women did; she was one of the early recruiters on African American college campuses in the south under the Kennedy years. For the international agents, the Agency for International Development, which at the time under John Kennedy had a kind of glorious sense about it that we're going out to help the world. She was she always was a good participating citizen, and she in her late 30s found her real work which was as an artistic photographer and she ended up for the next 50 plus years moving around the world into unique situations of everyday people and sometimes in the more affluent class juxtapositioning the lives involved, and effectively, through art showing myself, my sister, and anyone who saw her her images, some some deep insights for the viewer to interpret about the state of humanity on the planet and how we treat each other and what the effects of that are. So she is in her 90s now, and her career is really blossoming. Her name is Rosalind Fox Solomon, there's a website under that name. And she has finally had much acclaim in her 80s and 90s, as an artist who has both documented but also expressed in an artistic way, the state of humanity, and how we interact with the world. So that's my mother, always engaged in society influenced by early feminism, and early career woman. Carley Hauck 11:28 And I might just add, you know, with this rise in, I guess we could call it our awakening, so to speak, around systemic oppression, racial injustice. She was very much a pioneer already working in that space. And so I feel happy to hear that her work is getting the acknowledgement and acclaim that probably wasn't for many reasons of why this has gone on as long as it has and it we're still not over. There's a lot of work ahead. A lot of shifts and systems and structures that need to be hospice out, as Lynn twist would say. Joel Solomon 12:10 Yeah, absolutely. And I was a beneficiary of seeing a model of someone who was fearless about articulating through her imagery, and challenging people's assumptions and complacency about the world, which continues to do it today. My father came, his family came later, my mother's family came from Eastern Europe in the first, in the middle of the 19th century. My father's family came in the early 20th century, and they were mostly Lithuania, Russia, Poland, and were basically burned out and ran out of their villages in their homes. And grandfather was put on a boat at age 13, to avoid the Russian army draft, which would drag all people like that into 20 years of service and such. And he got on a boat, and they got to Atlanta, where there were cousins. And their experience included, there was a bad incident with a Jewish kid that was accused of rape and lynched. And the Jewish community, they got quite scared about what was going on. And they had cousins in Chattanooga, which was a quieter, safer place. They moved to Chattanooga. That's how I got from Eastern Europe to Chattanooga, Tennessee, often known as the buckle of the Bible Belt. So it was an interesting culture to grow up in. Yeah, now it's a wonderful boutique city, like many have created in you know, in lots of places today, and it's, it's, it's done a good job of lifting itself up and coming into the modern times. So they always believed in engaging with the issues of the day, and also with the political systems that day. And some of that would be memories from other times and other geographies where it had really been to great disadvantage to not have any involvement with how things get decided and who gets elected and things like that. So I grew up in a reasonably political family. My father was a shopping mall developer, they had been in the movie theater business and they had an opportunity to sell that and, and they went into building one of the first shopping malls in the South. And so I grew up around that business. And it didn't interest me. I I got influenced by the reality of what the interstate highway systems, freeway interchanges, the pave paradise put up a parking lot, and the cell commodified the same goods in every Hamlet in every town in the country, and that whole industry that evolved that moved us all into being exacerbated consumers. And I had issues with that. And I'll skip some of the story now and just move to when I came of age, my father passed away, I inherited some money mostly was tied up in some real estate properties. But as I was able to figure out how to get cash out of it by borrowing against it, I decided that my work had to be returning to local and to neighborhood commerce and things like that. So that was the beginning of my entrepreneurship. And fortunately, it was a period in the late 70s and 80s, where the growth of the idea of impact investing and doing good through business and working on organic food companies and cleaner low toxicity kinds of businesses, and ones that you can more clearly identify with us helping people and doing less harm, and hopefully contributing to society, as opposed to the many things you can do that are simply about making money. Right. And my mother, who challenged all of that status quo got me stuck with some moral and ethical thinking about what is an okay way to make money? And how would I want to live my life, being able to take care of my family and be involved in society, but do things that created less harm and did more good, and be dealing with entrepreneurs who cared about that. And so I was lucky enough to, to find my way into a couple of organizations in the 80s, that were early in these movements of better money, better business? How do you do maximum good in the world as possibly the legacy you care more about than How much money did you make? Now, providing for family and big and having access to resources and things is a natural instinct by human beings, people always want to put a roof over the kids and the family and have access to healthy food and a safe life. Those are human instincts that modern capitalism, and particularly the North American version has accelerated into a highly opaque and outsourced faraway, affecting lives that you never have to really face or deal with, or even know about unless you care, right? And this ability to feel good about our own families and our own neighborhood or our community, and ignore the impact on the rest of the planet, and future generations. Just bothered me, obviously I had the right routes to question and go that direction. I live to the 60s and all the questioning that came there. But fortunately for me, I believe I am not one of those 60s people that decided to let it all go and buy fancy cars and you know, just go with the flow. And I had to direct myself to organizations, relationships, opportunities, people that I could be inspired by, and that I could believe them. And that I can be part of because of the values, morals, ethics, underneath it imperfect, sloppy, make mistakes, all of it. There's no pitching perfection here. But we do have choices about what to focus on, what to prioritize, what to devote ourselves to, and how to live our lives. And I refuse to believe that I had to become an evil nasty person in order to find success and satisfaction. And that part of that was to say, okay, it seems like society is building an ethic she or he with the most is the winner. And what I saw was those with the most, in many ways, had deeply challenging circumstances either spoken and noticed or unspoken and not noticed. And that the world with the the era of information and access to knowing what's going on in many, many places, how things are made, where they came from, who's affected by that, that these are not only important, ethical and moral principles that are legitimately, perhaps some of the most important ones. Most religions have a version of Do unto others as you have them do unto you, and similar golden rules, so to speak. But they're kind of ignored outside the place of worship or certain situations. 20:58 And so what became clear through that period of coming of age and trying to figure out life, was that we could do things differently, that it's a matter of choice, for those of us who have access to choice. In other words, those of us that are already beneficiaries of I'll say non-judgmental, here, just say, of the effects of capitalism, I believe have a higher bar, to hold ourselves to, to be sure that our actions, our choices, our relationships, our our behavior, is where we, that's where Heaven is. That's where Heaven and Hell choices get to be made in a very pragmatic way. I was diagnosed with a family disease that my father's side carry, which is a genetic kidney disease called polycystic kidney. And early on, I was told you could die soon, you could live long, and there's nothing you can do about it. And that diagnosis was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Because it caused me to inventory my life and assess and think about, what am I doing that's actually generative, and working on to the highest purpose and the things that I care about the most, as opposed to just blindly wanting to win or accumulate. And there's a question that I encourage all ambitious people to do, but also inheritors, and spouses and, and owners of excess wealth, that we need to think about the fact that there are people and places at the other side of our investments, our purchases, and many of our choices. And that to accept a version of society where we don't have to think about it is wrong. I do my best not to be judgmental of others, they've got to figure out what works for them. But I got very excited, between the kidney disease, which caused me to think about what the kidney does, which is to filter the blood, it caused me to start reading labels and seeing what it was putting into my body. It caused me to think about where is this coming from and child slavery for chocolate, like stripping away? Coal, you know, it's tearing apart the countryside to fuel things that could be done in a better way. But it's not but it's cheaper to do that these kinds of things. So I went through a period of 6070s and 80s, getting exposed to the business. The business thinking of the, I guess, the reformist business thinking about our impact is actually a responsibility. And we are affecting other people all the time with our choices. You and I have it tough, when we're talking through a computer to hear the story behind the computer and where those rare metals come from and how they're made and what kind of factories so you can go deep into this. Soon enough one needs to start to find a place within the systems that we can harmonize our deepest values, our purpose and what we can care about and who we are, and who we're going to be on our deathbeds. Because I was diagnosed with the fatal disease, the deathbed became a symbol for me, that's when it's going to matter the most. I hope I'm going to have a good time in life, I'm going to get to hang out with people I respect and trust, we're going to be creative, we're going to do exciting and, and awesome things. But I have to also think about who's left out of that. What my choices are doing to affect those lives? And what can I do as a citizen, as a business person, as a moral person, as someone who cares deeply about society around me? How do I make choices that do less harm and more good, and keep going deeper? Because there's, they're not simple answers to that. 25:58 And now, as we reckon with colonization, genocide, moving people off their land, stealing resources, all the horrible things in Canada, right now we're dealing with the residential schools and system and a pretty big way where Native children were stripped from their families and put in church run, schools. And there, there's a situation right now, where hundreds of unnamed bodies have been found one of these residential schools in Canada. And there was a systematic attempt to destroy the people who lived here. So what do we do as a moral spiritual person, and I'll simplify without going on too long about this. We do what we can. And we make commitments, to challenge ourselves, push ourselves ever to know more and understand how these systems are working. And sure, take a break and do something fun and nice, and have a good time also. But remember, that when you hand your money over to someone, the bank, the insurance agent, the wealth manager, really anything you buy, to Walmart to whoever it is. These are choices that are affecting people all over the planet. And it is not right. For us to just put blinders on about pay. Carley Hauck 27:31 Right? Thank you, that was a great answer. The roots all the way into fruition, into the blossoming of of the impact you've chosen to make. And what I keep hearing you say is choice. You know, and and we do have a choice. And that's the difference between being conscious and being unconscious, is recognizing that in this moment, every moment is a choice. And, you know, we talked a little bit about this before we started the recording. But for those folks that have gotten to know me through listening to the podcast, they know that I wrote a book and you have a book that came out a few years before mine, but my book has been out now for four months and the impetus for that. And I would say that probably been the motivation for your book, they were probably along the same length, same lines, was really to shift hearts and minds, to wake up to this different reality that that we have. And I've always seen my influence and my privilege has been able to really work on the inside of business, and utilize supporting leaders and business to be that lever to be a force for good to align with social justice, environmental responsibility. And there are a lot of companies doing that. But when I think about the larger monopolies that really did well, and the pandemic, Amazon, you know, some of these huge grocery stores, the local businesses, the small business owners or owners had to had to quit, you know, even with loans and whatnot. What is the responsibility of those companies that really profited during this time? What is their responsibility to social justice to environmental responsibility? Could they orient more as a B Corp versus this, you know, this larger monopoly of a company and so I feel really curious to get your perspective. It's ironic or not ironic that the day that we're recording this, it is 100 degrees where you are Cortez Island, it is 100 Six here in Oregon where I am, these are record high heats, it's never been this hot ever. And my sense is this is not over. This could become the new norm, we know that our house is literally burning down, we have a short period of time in which we can actually create the systems and structures in business, as shareholders as customers to prevent major suffering. And so I know I'm asking you a big question. But as we're beginning to open the world back up, how can we put a deeper call to action for businesses to be a force for good for shareholders to recognize the enormous power responsibility that they have to orient in a way that is going to benefit all beings and benefit the planet? And how can we as customers, say no to certain companies or products, and say, You know what, I will not buy that if it's not coming from a compostable container, I'm just not willing to buy it anymore. And that's our choice, right? That's our choice, right. Joel Solomon 31:28 And we have to start at that consumer level where we can affect each purchase that we make, where we buy insurance, where we bank all of it, what we do with our homes, how much waste do we create, all many, many things we can do as individuals. And I care a lot about that. And I'm in the business of investing in, in some companies that are connected to helping that. And with any company that we invest in, we want them to come and be core, we want them to be attentive to their waste stream to how they treat people, knowing where their products come from, and what the conditions are, where things are made in other places, or anywhere. So there's that. However, I do not think that the consumer and general population is truly who has the whole risk. It's not who has the whole responsibility. There are very, very sophisticated businesses, financial institutions, basically, the peak of capitalism, and probably other economic systems, where control over major amounts of resources and people's lives effectively, are decided by the choices that are made there. So we must, on a consumer and citizenship level, be sure that we pay attention. When we choose a bank, when we go to a wealth manager for our retirement funds. When we do anything financial, we should know what those professionals are going to do with our money. And we should learn about what can be done to express our points of view. And to influence the makers, the purveyors and those large corporations that that help us have the wonderful parts of life where we can drive up to home, you know, all kinds of stores and walk in and buy some stuff and use a piece of plastic and go home with it and, and our house price goes up if we own a house while we're while we're at it. And we're beneficiaries of an incredibly sophisticated economic system that's been created, that benefits the few lavishly benefits some more in a solid enough way to have a state bought in and then leaves out close to 50% of the population. If we're talking about North America, the average savings of households of different race and ethnic backgrounds is dramatic. Some people have access, most people have less access. So there's a lot of issues there that we've just spoken about. One is do not ignore politics. It's at our peril. If we do that in history shows us that over and over again, be an informed citizen, pay attention, get involved, care. When we buy things, there are apps being created. There are resources now there are rankings of companies and judging of their supply chains and are they using basically slave labor. You know, the chocolate industry is full of child slavery. Like who's not eating chocolate? And are we doing anything to raise these issues. So we have a responsibility as citizens, I can't possibly list all the ways, but it's very important to take that responsibility and take responsibility for our local communities and how things are done, but also be involved at the macro scale to the degree that we can. So that's important. Carley Hauck 35:30 Can I pause just for a moment I have, this is going to go out shortly. And this is in the midst of summer. And this is a different summer, because it's the summer where our country and our world is more open. And I'd love to even give a few calls to action for folks that are traveling more this summer. You know, they're thinking, Oh, I can get on a plane now. And I can, I can do what I used to do. But I'd love to invite more regenerative way of travel and even as we're going from one place to another, and I'll just use my own example, I am in Oregon for two months. I've sublet my house in North Carolina, whenever I travel, I bring you know, reusable tableware with me, I veto the plastic bottle of water that is given, I bring my own container. I'm not just going for a weekend road trip, I'm here for two months, I'm going to see how do I give back to the community that I'm in I've been going to the farmers market, I'm bringing my own bag to the grocery store, I am not accumulating loads of freakin plastic. These are my ethics. And I still have to accumulate a certain level of plastic, I still have to drive, unfortunately, a gas guzzling car, there are certain structures and systems that are in place, that really infuriate me at times, because I would really love if we were all not emitting, you know, what about carbon from from the cars that we're driving, we're not all electric yet. We don't all have solar panels on our house. But I hope that that is going to be the new norm, because solar is so cheap. So I think what I'm really wanting to invite, as we are, you know, venturing out this summer, is to really be mindful of, again, how we're vacationing, how we're traveling, what's the long view. And we're also going to have record heat all across the world this summer. You know, it's been forecasted from the west coast to the east coast. So we can't pretend that climate change is not real. And every action, everything that we're buying, all these choices impact, how much suffering we're going to have going forward. Just want to name that, because that's right here. Yeah. Joel Solomon 38:05 And there are several large institutions or segments of society that carry a lot of the authority and influence over how all these things get made, and how we use the resources of the planet and of people. And sort of the business community is one of those. We should have much stricter rules and regulations about what it's okay to do in local communities due to natural environments. What we do, too, with the, with our financial resources in these companies, and how we use them, and then are they causing more damage, how we treat our workers as a whole basket of things to do with business. Then there's the political sector government, and there's an elected part and there's an appointed part, and there are multiple levels of it. And we have been systematically hoodwinked to be less involved, and to write it off, and dismiss it and just be cynical about it, rather than decide to run for office, decide to support people that you actually have looked into and you believe that they matter. And we need to push for the regulations of the commons. And the watching out for fairness of how workers are treated. Of how wealth is distributed is their fair taxation. We've read this has been a year of unveiling a lot about the billionaires and how little taxes they're paying. We have models like McKenzie Bezos, Jeff Bezos, ex wife who's writing checks right now in a you know way and at a scale That is unprecedented 10s of millions of dollars to all kinds of progressive organizations across the landscape, particularly racial, racial justice involved once. And there are more and more examples of people breaking out of the systems that just continue to feed this kind of machinery. So business politics, who govern the comments, and then also the, I guess this is part of the business side, but the financial sectors that set a lot of the precedents and the culture and customs as of what we're supposed to believe. And most of all, they benefit by convincing us that we need infinite amounts of money. So why should participants write more stuff? Yeah. Carley Hauck 41:00 And that's, that's feeding the hungry ghost. So that's, that's the self lack versus the self worth, right, that we really need to be worth cultivating. Joel Solomon 41:10 Yeah. And we have, you and I are speaking at a moment in American history, where the level of discourse and leadership and the conversations that are happening in the political landscape, I'm you could be no secret that I'm a progressive democrat. From just how I'm talking, but to see the manipulation, the viciousness, the brutality, that is becoming normalized, about citizenship, and rallying together as nations or states or communities. And this is, this is deeply troubling. And it makes me want to go back and look at civics class and, and what's being taught in elementary schools and things and the debasing of public service that's underway, but by interests who benefit from that. So they're there. A lot of people don't want to get involved in politics, or they believe it's too messy, or, or they don't trust it, and all these kinds of reasons. But that's what citizenship is about: how do we contribute to the geographies and the jurisdictions that we live in and are part of that we have an opportunity to do so we are putting it at risk by not using it. And one of the most disappointing things in life today is how denigrating the point of view about political service and, and running for office and offering yourself to this very challenging leadership role. And so I think it's important for us to find a more civil point of view, and understand the systems and how important they actually are to the balance, stability, and well being of the people and places and things we most care about. Carley Hauck 43:20 Hmm, thank you. Well, I'm, I'm imagining that there might be folks that are listening to this, and we're talking in some ways, very broad strokes, we're talking about, you know, the political piece, the being really mindful of how we are buying as consumers. And then we're also talking about how do we really inspire and hold businesses accountable. And those are, you know, there's, there's a lot right there, it might feel overwhelming, and some ways for folks, what I'm imagining for folks that are listening, because we've named a lot of really, you know, big things here as far as what needs to shift and change. We've talked about really noticing the choice that we're making with what we're buying and the impact that's having the companies we're investing in and, you know, are they invested again, in in social justice and environmental responsibility? Or are they is their product actually subscribing to human trafficking or childhood slavery? We need to be mindful of that because there is a ripple effect. And then we're also talking about how we get active politically and what I would say is that we all have a special and unique light to shine. And there is one piece of that that we can own, that we can say, this really matters to me, and I'm going to put my energy and effort towards this. That's usually what I like to encourage is, you know, start small so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. And I feel curious if you have any other guidance there. Joel Solomon 45:02 Be curious and ask questions and do your best to understand the systems that you are, that we are participating in. An example is banking, almost everyone here is hearing this is probably using a bank, you may very well have insurance of one kind or another. You choose what retail store to go to what kind of products to consume, there's just there are many, many choices, we could say micro choices and macro choices about how we influence and choose to participate in what are often opaque systems that we don't really take the time to find out what's behind the beautiful advertising, or the shiny new car, cell phone, etc. So the more that we are willing, and insist upon being good consumers of products and services, that many of which we need to care for families, have a home, have a job, offer all kinds of things. But we do have the choice. And there are entrepreneurs, and nonprofits that are building out systems to help us look into the companies, the banks, etc, that we're involved with. So there are rankings and there's lots of information that can help us then when we go into a bank. Carley Hauck 46:40 Do you happen to have any like website or link that you might just share for folks that maybe have never looked into that. Is there one that you can point to, Joel Solomon 46:45 Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to pull that out quickly enough effectively enough. I would say that if you search about what my bank is involved in what's happening with my money at Wells Fargo, or that that'll bring you lots of information. And there are organizations now and stay on, you know, they went I'll just Carley Hauck 47:20 I'll just make a plug. So Bank of the West was a company that I supported in a very large way for three and a half years doing organizational and leadership development consulting. And about a year ago, they started the first ATM card that gives 1% to the planet. So Bank of the West is a subsidiary of the NP, which is a very large French bank. And so they are very steeped in corporate social responsibility. And if you're on the west coast, you might check them out. Joel Solomon 47:55 That's beautiful. There are more and more corporate players like that. And they're doing it probably because someone in leadership positions actually cares. But they're also doing it because there's a more and more sophisticated consumer who is insisting upon it. And I was going to make the point that when you put money in a bank, it doesn't just sit in a sack down in the basement in a vault. That money goes all over the world as the bank goes and invests it so they can make money on your money. And one thing that's important to do is just learn at least the surface level about these businesses and how they make their choices and how they can be affected. That's a whole other podcast. Yeah, but it's important. There are rating services now. And that information is getting more and more crucial. So when you look at oil pipelines, and coal mining and destruction of nature in one way or another for some kind of natural resource, there are now nonprofits, and people who spend their lives on things like I have a good friend in Vancouver, who built an organization that tracks everything to do with paper on the planet, basically. And what does the book publishing industry use for its paper? And what do companies use for their billing and how many catalogs a day does Victoria's Secret make it out of old growth northern boreal forests in Canada to send out millions of catalogs every day, and things like that. There are a lot of these activities that transparency, information age, maybe citizen groups are bringing forth. So that's accountability. I have to know something about the bank. I'm going to use I need to know something about the corporate practices of the companies that I shopped with. I insist upon understanding if I put money into a wealth management or retirement fund or things like that, that it will be doing things that I'm proud of, or that I can at least accept. And they're not doing things with my money that would make me ill and feel embarrassed about it. And so this is a trend and a reality that's going to get easier and easier for us as consumers, because the Information Age is bringing more transparency. It doesn't take that much work to dig into some of these questions and find rankings of the best and the worst. And that's part of a just economy. 51:01 I would, okay, okay, well, a just economy goes a step further than has to do with past egregious behaviors and how we might correct and make compensation, even legislatively and let people have access to and things that help us. You know, repent for our sins, and in a way that we didn't even know we were making, because it was outsourced to some company, or a bank, or others. So this is something that any conscious person now I believe, wants to know more about. Carley Hauck 51:43 Well, Joel, thank you. I feel like we could talk for a really long time about all of these structures and systems. And I just wanted to ask you one more question before we end. What is giving you hope right now? Joel Solomon 52:03 I think hope is partially a choice. For some people, conditions are so tough that it's more challenging. But for so many of us, hope can be a choice and is a choice. And hope is not just a sweet emotion. It is about our actions. It's about how our behaviors, and our choices, and our citizenship, represent who we are in our deepest assessment of ourselves. And always thinking about the future moment when we are on our deathbed, and we're reviewing our lives. And considering the choices that we made through our lifetimes, and and do our best to convey what actually mattered. What was maybe a poor choice that we want to share with our grandchildren. And how can we be the very best models we can for future generations, because we are the ancestors of what's coming? Right? We have a lot of responsibility to pass on insight, good values, responsibility, citizenship, and care for the people and places around us. Humanity is creating some very severe challenges. And I know that most all of us care about future generations, at least our own, but hopefully for humanity's and that there is a just safe, clean planet for those future generations to enjoy, and take to the next level from what we were able to do during our time. Carley Hauck 54:01 Thank you, Joel. You're welcome. Is there anything else you'd like to say or a way people can find you to stay in touch? Joel Solomon 54:18 So the book The Clean Money Revolution, Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism, you can find through your local bookstores and purveyors, there is a website, Joel, Solomon, s o l o m o n.org. that has some information background and further resources about that. I'm available on LinkedIn to connect and share a fair amount there. And I'll just leave it at that there. There are many interests and involvements, you'll find a fair amount about them. If you just look at Two resources or three resources that I've mentioned. And I like to hear from people. I welcome critique and feedback. Carley Hauck 55:12 Thank you. Again, thank you for the incredible light that you are shining and have been shining and how you are being in service. It's been really delightful to have this conversation and I hope that we continue to support each other and inspire others, to weave a more, you know, a beautiful world that we have not yet seen. You are a beautiful person. Joe, thank you so much for being in service, and the way that you are. Your life is truly a gift to so many. And I feel grateful we were able to have this conversation, and that you are now in my community. We need transformational change at all levels, the individual community, business institutions and governments. We must redefine our way of life and consumption. And that is our responsibility and our opportunity right now. If this talk inspired you to be the change in your own unique way, and I can support you in that through coaching or free consultation, please reach out to me at support at Carley. Hauck comm if you have an idea, or a topic for the podcast that you would love for me to talk about. I also welcome hearing from you. Thank you for tuning in being part of the shine community and until we meet again be the light and shine the light

How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety in the Workplace with Carley Hauck

Emerging Women: Grace and Fire

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2021 26:13

Psychological safety in the workplace has been getting a lot of traction in the midst of the pandemic. Do you feel like you can bring your whole self to your team and work? Many people cover or feel like they have to portray only certain parts of themselves with their team or at work, but in the face of remote and hybrid work environments, psychological safety is becoming more important than ever before. Psychological safety is the belief that one can speak up without the risk of punishment or humiliation. It is the ideal that we should all be striving for, but what will it take to make psychological safety happen in the new future of remote and hybrid work? Psychological safety is the number one thing that all leaders, all businesses, all organizations need, especially in this future of work. Join me as I explore the critical importance of creating physiological safety as we face the future, the inner game skills that we need to cultivate, and the simple words that we can all use to increase psychological safety in the workplace and in the world. If we can create psychological safety at work just imagine what we can build in our world together. How to Create Psychological Safety in the Workplace SEO Description: Psychological safety in the workplace is the belief that one can speak up without the risk of punishment or humiliation. It is the ideal that we should all be striving for, but what will it take to make psychological safety happen in the new future of remote and hybrid work? Psychological safety is the number one thing that all leaders, all businesses, all organizations need, especially in this future of work. Join me as I explore the critical importance of creating physiological safety as we face the future, the inner game skills that we need to cultivate, and the simple words that we can all use to increase psychological safety in the workplace and in the world. If we can create psychological safety at work just imagine what we can build in our world together. Resources mentioned in this episode: What Psychological Safety Looks Like in a Hybrid Workplace from Harvard Business Review Conscious & Inclusive Leadership Retreat “How Leaders Build Trust at Work Through Authenticity” from Mindful.org Leading from Wholeness Executive Coaching Leading from Wholeness Learning and Development Resources Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World by Carley Hauck Contact Carley Hauck The Imperfect Shownotes Carley Hauck 00:01 Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am the host of the shine podcast. Welcome to season four. This podcast came about over two years ago, as part of the research I was conducting for my new book shine ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. Shine debuted four months ago, and is getting wonderful acclaim and acknowledgement. This podcast is about three things: conscious and inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices. I will be facilitating three episodes a month. Today's episode is about the important topic of creating psychological safety. In the midst of the new future of remote and hybrid work. Imagine that your monthly one on one is happening with your supervisor. And he, she or they say to you, I really appreciate how you've shown up at work and with the team in the last year. I imagine it wasn't an easy time for you. It wasn't easy for any of us. I am wondering if we can create a new foundation today? What might I say? Or do that would create a greater sense of helpfulness or would support you to feel like you could be really open in our conversations. I want you to know that I have your back. And that this is a safe space for you. How do you feel hearing this? Open suspicion, appreciation, relaxation. Just allow yourself to notice: what do you feel the sensations in your body? What is the emotion present? Hearing this? Whatever arises is welcome. What if the next statement out of your supervisor's mouth was this? I've been reading a lot about the importance of psychological safety. And I would like to invest more in this concept in our team and in my interactions with you. Notice how that impacts you. What is psychological safety, maybe it's a term you've never heard. I believe it is the number one thing that all leadership teams, all businesses, all organizations need, especially in this future of work. 03:55 Psychological safety is the belief that one can speak up without risk of punishment or humiliation. It has been well established as a critical driver of high quality decision making, healthy group dynamics and interpersonal relationships, greater innovation, and more effective execution in organizations. Essentially, to be successful on a team and as a team. psychological safety is the enabler. This insight is the result of almost 30 years of research by Dr. Amy Edmondson. This was supported and reinforced by an extensive two year research program called Project Aristotle where 15,000 employees at Google were assessed to see what was the number one trait that was supporting high performance and innovation. And it came down to psychological safety. In the last year, every organization around the world has gone through a reorganization. We are still going through it as each company is reevaluating their business model, their values, their mission, what are the products and services that make sense to market build and produce now these are the conversations that we've been having and will continue to have If you don't have trust, you won't have loyalty from your team members, your stakeholders or your customers. Marc Benioff, the CEO of the technology company, Salesforce, and one of the conscious and inclusive leaders that I highlight in my book, SHINE has been quoted as saying, you'd better decide now that trust is your highest value. Because in this new world, when everything is changing, people want to know they can trust you. So, if we don't have psychological safety, we don't have trust. And that often leads to dangerous silence. People that are aware of the risks of a situation but they don't dare to speak up for fear of being called out or punished for it. We've seen this happen, or avoidable failure. This means people are more focused on avoiding failure and getting the most out of work. People also will tend to make more mistakes that could have been avoided if psychological safety levels were higher. When we think about the skills necessary to manage in this new remote hybrid work environment, it is more important than ever, that we have cultivated these skills that support collaboration, decision making and innovation, the people skills, the real skills are what I like to refer in my body of work and in my book, the inner game. 06:50 New research from David J. Deming at Harvard's Weiner Center for Social Policy, examines lifetime earning patterns and shows how the peak earning years have shifted dramatically up the age continuum. Over the past five decades, this study has been getting some buzz in the last few weeks. This trend has been driven by changes in the mix of skills required in the workforce, away from routine tasks and toward non-cognitive domains like critical reasoning, and decision making. Again, the inner game skills. I have been specializing in organizational and leadership development consulting coaching, and I also teach on leadership topics as an instructor at Stanford and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. And what I found in these last 10 years of working with lots of organizations, LinkedIn, Pixar, Clif Bars, and then tech, Asana, and also with leaders, and emerging leaders at these two academic organizations, is that when these folks possess a strong inner game, they're really able to align with what really matters, and where they can actually support the sustainability of psychological safety in their teams and then the culture. And so these inner game skills are self awareness, emotional intelligence, which comprises of self management and empathy, and social awareness and relationship mastery. Another inner game skill is resilience, we can think of that as having a growth mindset. Love releasing from love, not from fear, well being, and authenticity. Again, these inner game skills, I see are necessary to be able to have these brave exchanges to create psychological safety, and our one on ones, our teams, our senior leadership, and our greater culture at work. And since the workplace is a microcosm for the greater world, if we can create inclusion, belonging, psychological safety, and collaboration at work, just imagine what we can build in our world together. 09:50 So I want to give you an example of a senior leader that I have been coaching since the beginning of the pandemic. And he utilized this strong inner game to create more psychological safety and trust in his team. Let's call this leader Scott. First I want to highlight that this leader already has High self awareness, a growth mindset. He showcases humility, empathy, compassion, he has high performance and his motivation for his work, his company, and his role is something that's intrinsic to him. I feel honored to have been able to serve this leader and to watch his growth. And one of the things that we've really been working on together is his discomfort with conflict. So we decided that it would be important to assess the psychological safety in his team. Based on what I've already seen this leader express in our coaching sessions, for example, his commitment to his own learning, growth and development, his willingness to be humble, take personal responsibility to be coached. He is the exception, I would say not the rule in my professional experience. But this kind of leadership can be inspired and can be nurtured. And I had the suspicion that when we did the psychological safety assessment with his team, that it would be high. So this is what I did. I conducted a psychological safety scan with this leader in his for direct senior reports earlier in the year. The psychological safety scan is an anonymous survey. It has been validated by Dr. Amy and Manson's work on the subject, I spoke to her earlier. And she is a woman that I deeply respect, and think of as a mentor to me. And actually, I feel very delighted that a few months ago, she endorsed my book and body of work. The survey and the scan is one of the very first things that I do with organizations when I'm brought in to assess or build out an inclusive leadership or Management Development Program, to engage in a change management strategy to support team building to get a sense of what's happening in the culture. And this scan is basically measuring four different dimensions of psychological safety. And as I shared before, I had a sense that this score would overall be high in psychological safety, but I forecasted that the team would probably score low in one quadrant. And that actually ended up being true. The area that needed the most improvement was the team's comfort with failure. So what do I mean by that? Can each member of the team willingly showcase and share mistakes with one another. Based on some of the culture pieces that were present in the company, they didn't feel comfortable to make mistakes and to share them openly in the setting of the team. 13:20 But based on talking openly about their scores, and creating a social contract for psychological safety, they were able to talk about why. And we could make a game plan for how they might grow this part of their team. Just the process of talking openly about their discomfort with sharing mistakes as a team, increase the psychological safety and the comfort level. As a follow up to this team debrief on psychological safety, I encourage the team and Scott, the senior leader, to have a failure party. This would encourage an environment where mistakes are seen as normal, where folks can learn and grow from them, and then innovate and collaborate better. So a few months back, Scott put in their team meeting agenda that they would create a failure party. And he set this up first by creating a social contract for psychological safety, which I had coached him how to do. And we had set at the first debrief where we all met as a team and I facilitated that session. And then how he created the context for the failure party was he went first, he shared a mistake that he'd made earlier in the week, what he learned from the mistake, how he course corrected and even how he asked for support to navigate the next steps. He then asked other members of the team to share as well. 15:05 One of the best ways that you can increase psychological safety with your direct reports, or with your team is to be willing to be vulnerable to go first. So as a result of Scott, going first in the team, one of the team members shared that they've had this ongoing challenge with self management and reactivity with one of their direct reports. They're actually working with a coach around it. And they were able to express openly with the team, but they made a mistake earlier in the week, and they lost their cool, and they were able to check it in the moment, come back, course correct, you know, put in an apology, take some personal responsibility, and being able to share this openly in the group to be witnessed in it. And then to note that this is something they're working on, they're growing, they were able to get positive reinforcement, so that it didn't have to be a place of shame, but a place for healing and transformation. In my professional experience, many successful executives encounter serious negative feedback for the first time in their careers, when they take on larger roles or responsibilities, like the example above of this particular manager in being able to shift emotional reactivity. That often is feedback given to leaders that often centers on style rather than skills or expertise. So if that leader isn't able to have a growth mindset, it can feel like a threat to their identity. But if they take on a learning mindset, they can grow. 17:10 We can imagine that in the last year, we've all had more challenges than normal, because of the pandemic. We are sorting through a lot of systems and structures that are being reinvented, that are taking into account the unveiling of racial injustice, systemic oppression, more emphasis on business models that are in alignment with regeneration, with sustainable development goals, and even the added pressures of mental health, needing to care for the elderly and for children. We are navigating a lot. And while we were always bringing our whole selves to work, we have literally been in each other's living rooms in the past year. So there has been more that has come to the light, like young children bursting into a meeting, divorce, struggles with healthcare. And this burden has been on managers and leaders to hold to navigate hearing about all of these work life situations. And this isn't going away with remote hybrid work. So there is a real need for managers, for leaders to support psychological safety in this new foundation of remote and hybrid work, so that each individual's needs, preferences and or limitations are taken into account and they feel safe to speak up. And once the leader is able to showcase that it is safe, there can be accountability and empowerment for each member of the team, and even the culture to uphold it so that everyone can feel they can bring their whole and best self to work and thus feel like they belong. 19:15 Psychological safety is needed today to enable productive conversations in new, challenging and even potentially fraught territory. By viewing ourselves as works in progress, and supporting a learning culture. We can really reconcile our yearning for authenticity and how we work and lead with an equally powerful desire to grow. The place we want to be has high psychological safety and accountability. If this podcast was meaningful to you, and you are wanting to bring a foundation of psychological safety with your one-on-ones, your team or your culture, this subject is something I feel really passionate about. And this is one of the first things that I do with any of my coaches, with any team building, our larger inclusive manager development program, organizational change management, that I am asked to come in and conduct. If psychological safety is low, in my experience, there will be a large challenge in the long term success for anything that I can possibly bring into the company. But if we are able to create a foundation of psychological safety, then the sky's the limit. If you'd like to work with me to create psychological safety, there are three ways. First, you can book a free consultation with me, the link will be in the show notes. And you can provide me with more information on what you're needing, why this might be important. And I can talk you through the steps of how I might be able to do that with your supervisor, your team, or your culture. The second way you could work with me is you could bring me in for a training session on psychological safety. And in this session, I'll customize it to your particular needs and culture. But I'll be able to assess and show you how to create and sustain psychological safety and trust as individuals in your senior leadership team and within your greater culture. The body of work that I've been facilitating as an organizational and leadership development consultant, and as an adjunct instructor at Stanford, and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business is on creating a strong inner game. And again, these essential skills are necessary to really support a sustainable culture of psychological safety and trust. And number three, if you are seeking someone to support you in a more full time capacity on this topic, please reach out. I would love to book a free consultation with you on how I can support you in this new future of work. 22:26 I want to leave you with just a few thoughts on psychological safety as a way to really bring this home. There are societal factors that favor silence over voice, self protection over self expression. Self protection remains a contracted and fear based stance, which doesn't support one to lean into their purpose and courage. It's protecting against the thought, what is the worst thing that could happen, versus what is the best thing that could happen? It's playing safe. But in playing safe, we miss opportunities to grow for fulfilment and contributing skillfully to something wonderful in the world. When people feel praised and encouraged for their efforts to speak up, that increase the psychological safety. The simple words of thank you for speaking up does wonders. Lastly, psychological safety is fragile, and it needs constant nurturance and renewal. I have a wonderful article that I wrote with Mindful magazine earlier in the year which focuses on the inner game of authenticity, and thus the outer game of building trust. I will leave it for you on the show notes. And now, I have a special invitation for you. Over Labor Day weekend, I will be offering and facilitating a conscious and inclusive leadership retreat with my good friend and colleague Brian McCormick. We are taking applications now and it will be at a beautiful retreat center in Black Mountain North Carolina, which is on very special and healing land and a creek that runs through the whole property. There will be time for renewal, learning community, healthy food, nourishment, and play. I would be delighted to have you come. We will also have time to explore the concept and practice of creating psychological safety in this setting in this deeper dive. I feel so excited about being able to bring people together after this long year and hope. Holding space for transformation. Before I began writing my book, I was leading conscious leadership retreats for women at this beautiful eco lodge in Mexico once a year. And when I started writing the book, I pushed pause on the retreats, but I knew that once shine was out, I would start hosting retreats again. It is undeniably one of the most favorite things that I get to do with my work bringing people together for immersive experiences, for transformation, healing for growth. And I would be delighted to have you join us and you'll see a link for the retreat in the show notes. If you have any questions or comments, please email me at support at Carley. Hauck dot com. I'd love to hear from you. Finally, thank you for tuning in and being part of this community. I have many more wonderful podcast episodes for you. So until we meet again, be the light and shine the light

-63: How to Lead Consciously and Inclusively at Work and in the World with Carley Hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2021 39:26

In this episode of the Emerging Women Podcast, Chantal is joined by Shine Leadership founder Carley Hauck to discuss Carley's new book and how to lead consciously and inclusively at work and in the world. Carley talks about what it means to shine in a world that can seem dark at times. As we shine as leaders, we can show others a way forward to a flourishing workplace and planet. Find out how Carley Hauck does it in this episode of the Emerging Women Podcast. About Chantal Pierrat Chantal Pierrat is Founder & CEO of Emerging Women, a global network of brilliant women creating new leadership paradigms and supporting the rise of leaders across all sectors of society. Chantal is a celebrated podcast host, speaker, thought leader, coach, and entrepreneur dedicated to advancing conscious leadership and helping women be seen, heard and lead from the truth of who they are. Her ideas have been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, The Street and more. Emerging Women has graduated thousands of women (and men) from peer mentoring and sponsorship programs sponsored by such Fortune 500/100 organizations as HP, Inc., Halliburton, Oracle Corp. and more. About Carley Hauck Carley Hauck is founder of Shine Leadership and is an author, leadership consultant, learning architect, Stanford Instructor, and sought-after speaker who teaches people, leaders, and teams to lead consciously from the inside and re-envision a workplace and world that prioritizes people and planet first. As a leadership expert, she partners with some of the top organizations in the world helping enhance cultures of high performance, collaboration, trust, and belonging. Her new book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World is available now! Insight from this episode: Benefits of conscious and inclusive leadership and how to foster it. Reasons we must be open and learn from each other in our changing, diversifying world. Tips for leading from a whole and balanced place and having a positive ripple effect on others. Why you might want to tell your team members and others at work you love them. Quotes from the show: “In order to bring the greatest potential in ourselves, in our workplaces, and our world, sometimes we have to shine the light on the dark, on the things that are not always so pleasant, on the systems, and structures, or behaviors frankly, that need to shift that need to change. That requires that we do it with a certain skill, with a certain cultivation, and ways of being that allows us to do that from a place of love and truth.” –Carley Hauck Emerging Women Podcast “You don't have to be given that title [of leader]. We can all be leaders, and I actually feel like that's call right now. What is that thing that you want to be the change for? What is that thing that you're feeling a fire in your belly about? Or passion about? Or you recognize, this isn't right?” –Carley Hauck Emerging Women Podcast “Conscious and inclusive leaders have this stronger sense of purpose. They understand that leadership is about serving. And they're also really wanting to support more soulfulness in organizations. They're not all about more is better, faster because we know that leads to burnout. Is there a more feminine way that's balanced with the masculine?” –Carley Hauck Emerging Women Podcast “Some of the complexities of our world-- a lot of them-- we need everybody. We need everyone, especially when we look at some of these large problems that impact everyone. That requires a much more diverse group of people with different thoughts, different experiences, different perspectives, different educations and knowledge.” –Carley Hauck Emerging Women Podcast “If I'm a burned out leader, and I'm not balanced and whole on the inside, I'm not using certain resources, skills to really lead from a more balanced, healthy place, that's going to have a ripple effect with my team members, with the culture at work.

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#97: SHINE As A Conscious Leader

Conscious Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2021 33:38

This week, we're talking with Carley Hauck. Carley is a leadership development professional and Stanford Instructor who teaches people to lead consciously and envision a workplace that prioritizes people and planet first. Her most recent book, SHINE, is her recipe for conscious leadership. In this episode, Carley and I talk about what it means to tend to our inner game before playing the outer game, how to become more mindful as a leader, and what she sees as the qualities of conscious leaders for the future. Carley's personal passion around environmental sustainability has fueled much of her work, and gives us all a model around how to align our careers with our purpose. You can learn more about Carley on here website as well as request the PDF she references at the end of our chat. SHINE is available at your fave bookseller. The 10X Impact podcast is a production of 10X Leadership Lab. 10X Leadership Lab exists transform business into a vehicle that elevates humanity through conscious leadership, stakeholder win win, thriving culture, and higher purpose. Visit www.10xleadershiplab.com Subscribe to 10X Leadership Lab Education Follow Us on LinkedIn Connect with your host, Laura Juarez #10ximpact #10xleadershiplab #impactdrivenbusiness #stakeholdercapitalism #businessstrategy #consciousleadership #consciouscapitalism #leadership #bcorp #higherpurpose

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131. A Better Workplace with Carley Hauck, Author and Professional Development Expert

Health Gig

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2021 36:27

On this episode of Health Gig, we hear from Carley Hauck, who is a Senior Learning Architect and Executive Coach. Carley is vastly experienced in the world of both professional and individual development, having supported leaders in Fortune 100 companies as well as practiced as a marriage and family therapist. Holding a Master's degree in Organizational Psychology, Carley also serves as adjunct instructor at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and Stanford University and is certified in the IEQ-9 Leadership Assessment and is a Certified Psychological Safety Practitioner through the Fearless Organization. She is the author of Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and In the World.

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Ep.131: A Better Workplace with Carley Hauck, Author and Professional Development Expert

Health Gig

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2021 36:30

On this episode of Health Gig, we hear from Carley Hauck, who is a Senior Learning Architect and Executive Coach. Carley is vastly experienced in the world of both professional and individual development, having supported leaders in Fortune 100 companies as well as practiced as a marriage and family therapist. Holding a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology, Carley also serves as adjunct instructor at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and Stanford University and is certified in the IEQ-9 Leadership Assessment and is a Certified Psychological Safety Practitioner through the Fearless Organization. She is the author of Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and In the World. More on Carley Hauck: Website: https://carleyhauck.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/leadingfromwholeness/posts/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/carleyhauck LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck

How Your Authentic Self Can Change the World

The Conscious PIVOT Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2021 44:44

Carley Hauck, author of Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World, believes that keeping an authentic self is key in making the world a better place. In this discussion with Adam Markel, she dives deep into everyone's individual power to do something in their own little ways to make a true difference in whatever level or purpose. She also explains how understanding our own vulnerability can eventually lead to resilience, which overall results in powerful self-growth and improvement. Most importantly, Carley emphasizes the importance of taking action for every belief that we uphold, or else losing the opportunity to cause real change.Get the newest Conscious PIVOT Podcast episodes delivered directly to you – subscribe here. And, if you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a 5-star rating on iTunes! For instructions click here.DOING THIS for 10 Seconds Can Change Your Life! Click here to watch Adam's Inspiring TEDx Talk!

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96. Conscious Leadership + Male Allyship at Work and in the World - Carley Hauck

We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2021 35:40 Transcription Available

Meet Carley. This author and adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley teaches leadership and business as a platform for positive change in the world. Carley shares her passion for inclusive leadership and creating a workplace and world that works for everyone while prioritizing people and planet first. She's even walking us through male allyship and how men can be partners in the fight for gender equality.It's We Are For Good Podcast Women of Impact Week presented by Virtuous. Join us as we release 5 episodes, each dedicated to celebrating the incredible women making an impact in our world, and how you can take action to harness the power of women to further your causes too.This series is more than just podcast episodes. Explore weareforgood.com/women to find extensive resources, a treasure trove of past interviews and inspiration too. Want to be an ally to spread this message of goodness? Use hashtag #womenofimpact2021Episode HighlightsCarley’s background - 3:15Where do we start to bring conscious leadership in the nonprofit space? - 8:10Leaders who live out conscious leadership - 12:13Advice on where to start regarding the internal “game” - 17:02Allyship, women empowerment, and inclusion - 22:13Carley’s One Philanthropic Moment - 33:45Carley’s One Good Thing: We need to lead from more love and that with you. - 36:36For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/96The We Are For Good Podcast is co-hosted by Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE and welcomes the most dynamic nonprofit leaders, advocates and philanthropists to share innovative ideas and lessons learned 3x a week!Want to hear insider details and to get our best roundup of tips, freebies, resources and show notes from each episode? Join the Good Community - it's free! Visit www.weareforgood.com/helloAbout Our Sponsor VirtuousYou know we believe Everyone Matters - and we believe the greatest philanthropic movements happen when you see and activate donors at every level. And our friends at Virtuous created a fundraising platform to help you do just that. Virtuous is the only responsive fundraising platform designed to help nonprofit teams build better donor relationships and increase impact with confidence. Plus, their number one core value is Team & Family, so this week we’re excited to highlight a few of the phenomenal women and clients within their family during Women of Impact Week.Learn more about Virtuous at www.virtuous.org/

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84 - Carley Hauck:

Coaches Rising

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2021 68:00

How does inclusivity foster high performance? How is the pandemic impacting the workplace? And what are the key qualities leaders need to be fostering in order to create resilient organisational culture? In this conversation with leadership development consultant Carley Hauck we speak about coaching in the pandemic, emergent workplace culture, the challenges of a VUCA world and the relationship between psychological safety and high performance. Carley Hauck is a learning architect, leadership development consultant, author, speaker, and coach who serves as adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She has worked with hundreds of leaders in Fortune 100 companies and high-growth startups such as LinkedIn, Genentech, Pixar, Clif Bar, Intuit, and Bank of the West. Carley is the author of “Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World”.

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Carley Hauck: Being Brave and Loving at Work

Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2021 62:08

Carley Hauck is a learning architect, leadership development consultant, author, speaker, and coach who serves as adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She has worked with hundreds of leaders in Fortune 100 companies and high-growth startups such as LinkedIn, Genentech, Pixar, Clif Bar, Intuit, and Bank of the West. With Sounds True, Carley has published the book Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. In this podcast, Carley meets with Sounds True founder Tami Simon to discuss leading in a more conscious and inclusive way, cultivating a new operating model for how we go about conducting ourselves in business, leading change when you’re not the company’s leader, maintaining well-being and the ability to flourish at work, and more.

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Leading Consciously at Work and in the World with Carley Hauck

We're All in This Together

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 25, 2021 65:54

Conscious leadership is so important, especially right now. On this episode, I talk to my friend and colleague Carley Hauck about her brand new book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World. Carley is a leadership expert who works with top conscious businesses and teaches at both Stanford and UC Berkeley. In this conversation we discuss how inner transformation leads to outer transformation, as well as the importance of creating a more inclusive and sustainable world. Resources: We’re All in This Together (book), by Mike Robbins Mike Robbins Website Mike Robbins Blog Mike Robbins Podcast Mike Robbins on Facebook Mike Robbins on Twitter Mike Robbins on Instagram Mike Robbins on YouTube Carley Hauck Website Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World, by Carley Hauck Community Events for Shine Shareables: “Inner transformation leads to outer transformation.” — @CarleyHauck “We need conscious leadership now more than ever.” — @CarleyHauck “We have the opportunity right now to be a part of a new paradigm and change the world for the greatest good.” — @CarleyHauck

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Carley Hauck ~Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and In the World

Conversations with Michael Stone and Guests

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2021 58:53

In this episode, Michael and Carley Hauck discuss conscious leadership and the importance of leaders shifting their attention to their inner capacities to meet the current and future needs in the workplace. In this lively session, they explore bringing meaning and purpose into the workplace and how organizations can be a healing force in the world by focusing on people and the planet and not just profit.

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Fully Embodying Your Highest Values

A Quest for Well-Being

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2021 38:45

— “Fully embody your highest values, lead with compassion and generosity, and create soul-nourishing workplaces that become forces of good in the world.” Valeria Teles interviews Carley Hauck — the author of “Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World.” Carley Hauck is a learning architect, leadership development consultant, author, speaker, and serves as adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business teaching on the subject of leadership and business as a platform for positive change in the world. For the last decade, she has served hundreds of leaders and companies in Fortune 100 companies and high growth start-ups such as: LinkedIn, Genentech, Pixar, Clif Bar, Intuit, Bank of the West, etc. to uplevel their leadership skills, cultivate their recipes for resilience, and create thriving workplaces and mission-driven businesses. Carley feels inspired to guide leaders with a new skill set of tools to support the next paradigm of conscious leadership and business that is emerging in our changing world. In her upcoming book, Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and the world, Carley guides readers on a transformational inner to outer journey to inspire a new workplace and world that works for everyone and prioritizes people and the planet first. Carley's writing and work has been featured in Mindful Magazine, Conscious Company Media, 15 Five, and Emerging Women. Additionally, Carley is the host of the inspiring Shine podcast. She interviews leaders on the practices and tools they use to rise amidst adversity, lead with authenticity, love, and influence business to be a force for good in the world. To learn more about Carley Hauck and her work please visit: https://www.carleyhauck.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

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CZ 092: Carley Hauck, Author "Shine: Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and the world"

Catching Z's: The Millennials Guide to Mindfulness

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2021 59:55

Carley Hauck is a learning architect, leadership development consultant, author, speaker, and serves as adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. For the last decade, she has served hundreds of leaders and companies in Fortune 100 companies and high growth start-ups such as: LinkedIn, Genentech, Pixar, Clif Bar, Intuit, and Bank of the West. She helps them cultivate their recipes for resilience and create thriving workplaces and mission driven businesses. In her upcoming book, Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and the world, Carley guides readers on a transformational inner to outer journey to inspire a new workplace and world that works for everyone and prioritizes people and planet first. Carley’s writing and work has been featured in Mindful Magazine, Conscious Company Media, 15 Five, and Emerging Women. Additionally, Carley is the host of the inspiring Shine podcast. Carley and I had a wonderful inspiring chat as we talked about: How her Yoga practice got her into meditation Why she’s drawn to wisdom and how she defines it What nature can teach us about our internal environment Layers of a spiritual journey and where she is at currently Moving from your Head to your heart Tapping into the resilience that is already within you and a resilience exercise Her organization Leading from Wholeness Her book “Shine: Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world” Using emotional intelligence with conscious leadership How our perspective on others exposes your inner world Leaning into discomfort for healing Shine Book Carley's newsletter and podcast

68 - Carley Hauck, Founder of Leading from Wholeness

Doing (good) Business

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2021 35:57

Carley Hauck, Founder of Leading from Wholeness has a new book, Shine, coming out in February 2021 on conscious leadership and businesses. Shine highlights the way that anyone who feels called to lead can cultivate the qualities of consciousness on the inside and help to build a workplace and world that works for everyone and is living in greater harmony with the planet. In the book, Carley showcases 9 conscious leaders whom she has served who are really prioritizing people and planet as central to their businesses mission and making quite a positive wave of goodness as a result. Carley shares a sneak peek into 1 of those conscious leader case studies with us, and so much more! Notable leadership moments: Rhea Singhal...Founder and CEO of Ecoware We are part of an integrated system….Mark Benioff, Salesforce By the Numbers: https://carleyhauck.com/developing-people/ Project ROI, by Campbell’s Soup & Verizon Want more from Carley? Hop onto her newsletter list for info on her free events and grab the book on February 23rd!

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Leading From Wholeness with Carley Hauck

Women Developing Brilliance

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2020 40:38

The world right now needs compassion, empathy and inclusion. We are all dealing with complex emotions and issues during this unusual time. Triggers emerge, relationships can become strained and communication is struggling. This episode will help us all take a breath, identify areas which need change, and come from a place of understanding in our personal and professional lives to make it a little easier.In this episode, you will learn how to:⭐ Identify and deal with triggers in daily life⭐ Communicate effectively for positive relationships⭐ Work through your triggers with a mindfulness exercise⭐ Identify the qualities for becoming a great leader⭐ Break patterns to make changeWise Words"Everyone has their own unique light to shine...We all can make a difference. Choose one way to make a difference and keep doing it." Carley HauckMore about CarleyCarley is a torch lighter for leaders who want to bring their leadership to the next level. Since 2010, Carley has been supporting leaders and companies with executive coaching, leadership development, learning initiatives, culture and team building.Carley is adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas Business School, where she teaches on leadership topics such as embodied leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, purpose, and resilience. Carley has a masters degree in Organizational Psychology, and specializes in educating leaders and teams to bring their whole and best self to work so that they can tap into purpose, lead from love, and choose people over the planet so that business can be a force for good in the world.Connect with Carley:Https://www.leadfromlight.comhttps://carleyhauck.com/shinebook/https://carleyhauck.com/resources/

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Leading From Wholeness with Carley Hauck

Women Developing Brilliance

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2020 40:38

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EP#228 - Shine Bright in Life

The Mindful Experiment Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2020 46:03

In this episode, I had the pleasure to share space with Carley Hauck. We discuss all aspects of life, but especially these turbulent times we are living in and what are the things we can do to help us ease the darkness, shine bright and truly allow for us to see a different perspective. I had a blast on here and the information shared will truly give you some hope but more importantly, no matter how dark your life may be at this time or at any given time, it will give you that opportunity to SHINE that light bright. Tune in for more and let us know what you think! Who is Carley Hauck? Carley Hauck is a learning architect, leadership development consultant, author, speaker, and serves as adjunct faculty at Stanford University and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business teaching on the subject of leadership and business as a platform for positive change in the world. For the last decade, she has served hundreds of leaders and companies in Fortune 100 companies and high growth start-ups such as: LinkedIn, Genentech, Pixar, Clif Bar, Intuit, Bank of the West, etc. to up-level their leadership skills, cultivate their recipes for resilience, and create thriving workplaces and mission drive businesses. Carley feels inspired to guide leaders with a new skill set of tools to support the next paradigm of conscious leadership and business that is emerging in our changing world. In her upcoming book, Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and the world, Carley guides readers on a transformational inner to outer journey to inspire a new workplace and world that works for everyone and prioritizes people and planet first. Carley's writing and work has been featured in Mindful Magazine, Conscious Company Media, 15 Five, and Emerging Women. Additionally, Carley is the host of the inspiring Shine podcast. She interviews leaders on the practices and tools they use to rise amidst adversity, lead with authenticity, love, and influence business to be a force for good in the world. How to Connect with Carley? Website: https://carleyhauck.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carley.hauck/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadingfromwholeness/ Podcast: https://carleyhauck.com/podcast/ --------------------------------------------- Get Connected with Dr. Vic Facebook: www.facebook.com/DrVicManzo Instagram: www.Instagram.com/DrVicManzo LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/DrManzo Parler: www.parler.com/profile/DrVicManzo YouTube: Bit.Ly/38QULv91 Life Mastery 5-Week Online Course - Special for 2020 https://empower-your-reality.mykajabi.com/life-mastery Download first 3 Chapters to Dr. Vic's New Book for FREE https://empower-your-reality.mykajabi.com/3-chapters-lead-generation-awitd Looking for Coaching? https://www.empoweryourreality.com/one-on-one-coaching Email DrVic@EmpowerYourReality.com

Beyond Ally: Encouraging Conversations to Heal Race-Based Trauma with Dr. Maysa Akbar

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2020 51:14

I interview Dr. Maysa Akbar on her view of how to be an anti-racist, how we can begin to fight racial injustice, and walk through a detailed roadmap for those of us feeling the call to show up and create and build a more just and equitable world. In her book, Beyond Ally, Dr. Akbar showcases racial justice work through the creation of the Ally Identity Model, which details the stages of allyship in dismantling systemic oppression. She is a groundbreaking psychologist, best-selling author, and healer. Dr. Akbar is a thought leader and expert in racial trauma, allyship, diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is also an assistant professor at Yale University in the School of Medicine. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck shares the October focus on well-being and practices of self-care that will enable us to flourish in difficult times. [3:59] Introducing guest Dr. Maysa Akbar, who shares her upbringing and the life experiences that led her to work as an expert in racial trauma, allyship, diversity and inclusion. [12:02] How leaning into her past has led Maysa to cultivate resilience, agility and flexibility. [15:15] Becoming an effective ally starts with developing a partnership with an opposed or marginalized community to seek racial justice. [19:33] Maysa shares the response to her new book Beyond Ally and focuses on the efforts of those that are fighting to create partnership in an equitable world. [23:00] The importance of knowing the next step to take when moving beyond allyship and when reconciling with the past. [26:42] Carley shares her steps toward activation as an ally and the understanding she has developed along the way. [29:37] The stages of the Ally Identity Model and how anyone can begin the journey toward allyship from where they currently are. [37:19] Where do most people currently fall on the Ally Identity Model? Maysa shares a snapshot of America today compared to where it used to be and where it has the potential to go. [42:18] Strategies for effectively hospicing out old systems that are keeping our country divided starts with taking ownership of our history, spending time together and showing compassion. [46:13] Maysa shares the way to continue the conversation and to embrace your ability to affect change at this time. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Four Sigmatic — discount code SHINE Shinebook “Trump bans ‘anti-American’ diversity training” BBC News article Maysa Akbar Integrated Wellness Group Beyond Ally: The Pursuit of Racial Justice, by Dr. Maysa Akbar ”How are we getting along?” Carley’s recent solo episode on the Shine podcast

Learn to Bend, Not Break The Inner Game of Being a Resilient Leader with Anne Grady

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2020 56:54

This month’s topic of resilience speaks to your ability to rise from all of the challenges that life may serve you. In this interview Anne Grady and I speak about her personal and professional struggles, her recipes for resilience, and how mindset plays such an important role in finding the silver lining amidst difficulty and discomfort. If you find that you are being hard on yourself with all of the changes and uncertainties in today’s world, remember that success means growth. If you are learning and growing in each mindful moment, you are successful. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck addresses climate changes, this month’s topic of resilience and her guest speaker and author Anne Grady. [5:20] What does conscious leadership mean to Anne? It starts with being present to the needs of your team and honoring your connections with individuals. [7:40] Resiliency is the new leadership currency, and the right team provides its members the physiological safety that is modeled by its leader. [13:00] Leaders have to experience setbacks as part of their success. Remember that the definition of success is growth. [16:24] Anne shares the life experiences and tools that have helped her develop a stronger, more resilient, and courageous inner game. [23:00] What is the role of faith and trust in enduring all that you will face in this life? Anne emphasizes the value of recognizing the fact that you have already survived the hardest challenges of your life so far. [28:54] Resilience as the ability to get back up again is a power and and a contentment that can only come from within ourselves. [34:55] Anne shares her motivation behind writing Mind Over Moment and its accompanying journal. [41:01] The value of our scars, the stories they tell, and the lessons we learn from them. [44:25] We cannot heal our wounds if we are continually placing blame on other people. Ask yourself, “what am I putting out into the world? Am I perpetuating positivity or pain?” [50:22] The fundamental attribution error reminds us that we are all doing the best we can — giving people the benefit of the doubt will serve us all well. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Four Sigmatic — discount code SHINE Shinebook Anne’s Ted Talk Mind Over Movement

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Being Wholehearted: Listening to the Wisdom of Love and Suffering with Mark Nepo

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2020 63:37

Mark Nepo is a poet and spiritual adviser who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 30 years. Nepo is best known for his New York Times #1 bestseller, The Book of Awakening. He has published 12 books and recorded six audio projects. A cancer survivor, Nepo writes and teaches about the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. In this powerful interview, Mark Nepo and I speak to how we can cultivate deeper levels of love and resilience in this time of disruption, transformation, and division. We are at a precipice of creating a whole new world that moves away from “othering” by a simple mindset shift of seeing that we are more together than alone. Being wholehearted is living with more truth, kindness and meaning amidst the suffering in the world. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces Mark Nepo and the topic of inner resilience to lead with more meaning, truth and kindness. [8:35] How can we live and lead in these difficult times with love and kindness? It starts with inner resilience. [11:25] Mark shares his cancer journey and the grief and loss that he had to process in order to move forward. [14:53] Surrender means cooperating with the truth as we meet it, and suffering makes clear what we need to see most in the moment we need to see it. [21:00] Our inner hierarchy of needs requires that we take time to develop and shine our inner light. Deepening our roots and widening our trunks will allow us to weather the challenges of our time. [26:46] Mark shares how he learned to discern fear and pain in his cancer journey so that he could surrender and cooperate with the truth as needed. [31:07] Fear has its place in our lives, but we cannot allow it to overinflate in our lives during difficult times. Mark teaches how to face your fears in a manageable way. [37:50] What tools are in your toolbox to help you right-size your sense of things to help you overcome pain and fear as it comes? [44:42] How do we embrace the dark so that the light can shine through, allowing us to build a better world? Consciousness is darkness made light and quiet bravery in the face of fear. [49:49] Carley shares her practice of embracing a heightened awareness in the triggering interactions that she shares with others. [55:11] Mark shares the details of his upcoming webinar that will speak to the power of togetherness, what gives him hope in the future of our world today, and a stanza from his powerful poem. [59:03] Carley shares an ingestible resource for developing resilience in today’s constantly changing landscape. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Four Sigmatic — discount code SHINE Shinebook Mark Nepo Mark Nepo Webinar — More Together Than Alone The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters by Mark Nepo More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World by Mark Nepo

How Are We Getting Along? With Carley Hauck

racism key takeaways getting along carley hauck

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2020 32:53

In this solo episode, Carley explores the concept of seeing whiteness and how to have important conversations about race at work. Carley will share an essential 3 part framework to support you to have brave exchanges that can foster more compassion, equity, safety, inclusion, and collaboration in the workplace. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces the critical topic of today’s podcast — bridging differences in our workplaces and in our world. [4:48] Carley’s diversity story and how it has shaped her views of discrimination, oppression, slavery, racism, and the importance of the inner work that affects how we show up. [7:01] Introducing the inner game skill of greater self awareness, emotional intelligence, empathy, resilience and how it enables us to build bridges and lead consciously. [10:23] How can we bridge our differences in ways that enable collaboration and creative solutions? It starts with getting comfortable with discomfort and a willingness to try and try again. [12:43] The initial inner skills that will allow you to bridge differences including assuming positive intent, becoming a better listener, employing mindfulness exercises, and practicing self-compassion. [18:05] Three steps to guide you through difficult conversations about race including acknowledgement and validation, curiosity with compassion, and focusing on solutions. [23:10] Three powerful resources that can support you in your efforts to heal the division and divide of our world. [25:47] Racism is a form of trauma — how can your commitment to your inner work allow you to promote inclusion and healing? [27:22] Carley explains how you can prioritize your self-care by utilizing food as medicine. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals “Befriending Your Inner Critic” by Carley Hauck Seeing White Beyond Ally Embodying Courage Four Sigmatic

Carley Hauck: Leading From Wholeness

Championship Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2020 25:52

In this episode of the Championship Leadership podcast Carley Hauck talks about her podcast: Shine, meditation and emotional intelligence, understanding your emotions and so much more.

shine wholeness carley hauck

The Path to a Socially Responsible Workplace and World with Johanna Lyman

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2020 61:16

How leaders are judged in a difficult time is not necessarily what they said or did, but how they made people feel. Leaders who are genuinely empathetic and concerned for the needs of those they represent will come across as honest, sincere, and authentic. In this interview, we speak of the essential inner game quality of emotional intelligence and how this, combined with self-awareness, creates greater social awareness and relationship mastery. When we think and feel into the bigger problems we as a human race, society, and business need to solve, it all comes down to relationships. Find the path forward to a socially responsible workplace and the world with Johanna Lyman. Johanna Lyman is the Principal Consultant and Practice Leader for Culture and Inclusion at Kadabra. She is a dynamic, energetic Leadership and Culture coach and consultant with nearly 30 years of experience in leadership development and culture change. She is adept at combining coaching, training, and facilitation to help clients build sustainably profitable businesses while creating deep meaning in their work. She believes that inclusion and diversity should be seen as the natural outcomes of building great cultures. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces the importance of cultivating greater emotional intelligence as one of the conscious inner game skills that will allow you to develop relationship mastery and connect with others on a greater level. [6:36] Introducing Johanna Lyman, who shares the experiences that led her to knowing why conscious leadership in business, integrity and recognizing our shared humanity matters to her. [10:53] The tools for inner work that Johanna has been engaging in to help her through this VUCA time include meditation, a social media fast, and recognizing the gifts of the pandemic and the lessons we can learn from them. [17:48] Emotional intelligence and the importance of being present in uncertain times to allow us to develop an increased sense of self-awareness. [23:14] These unprecedented times have given us the opportunity to change the world from a place of abundance or scarcity to a place of sufficiency. [27:53] How the flying trapeze and bouldering can teach us to let go of the things we are used to holding onto in order to move toward something better. [30:50] The four aspects of emotional intelligence as they relate to upping the inner and the outer game and our ability to lead consciously. [38:17] Everyone is feeling more than they’ve ever felt before in this pandemic, and the weight of the feelings is resting on leaders who have not been trained to manage it all. What can be done about it? Start with the Zoom In, Zoom Out practice. [42:48] How to refine the critical piece of emotional intelligence in all that we are learning in these unprecedented times. [46:08] Supporting leaders and workplaces in the important conversations that need to be taking place right now starts with embracing the fact that mistakes are going to be made. [50:12] The various levels of learning that can effectively create change, including addressing and unraveling racism. [55:37] Prioritizing people over the planet and protecting people of color so that we can save our planet and create a more equitable workplace for everyone. [58:38] Johanna shares a message of hope for listeners to become the cultivated leaders the world needs now. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Conscious Company Kadabra (SJLC) Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business by John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship With Your Money and Your Life by Lynne Twist

Regenerative Leadership and Organizations: The Path to a Sustainable and Flourishing World with Laura Storm

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2020 72:20

Laura is an international thought leader and expert on sustainability leadership and has spent her entire career advising global leaders on sustainability and building impact- and purpose-driven organizations, and movements. Laura is co-founder of Regenerators and co -author of Regenerative Leadership with her co-founder and co-author Giles Hutchinson. Laura has supported the Copenhagen Climate Council, the World Business Summit on Climate Change, Project Green Light and Sustainia. Under Laura’s leadership, Sustainia became a global mega-brand within sustainability with an outreach to more than 150 million people, a database of 4000 sustainable solutions, multiple state-of-the art publications and a unique partner network of Regenerative Leadership with her co-founder Giles Hutchinson. Regenerative organizations will be tomorrow’s success stories. Those that hold-on to yesterday’s logic will become yesterday’s news. It’s simple: adapt or die. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces the importance of cultivating greater self-awareness as one of the conscious inner game skills that will allow you to be more emotionally adaptable during these unprecedented times. [3:05] The experience that reminded Carley that leaning into surrender allows us to handle the constant shifting, change and disruption that is constantly being thrust upon us. [10:55] Laura describes the installation of regenerative systems and a return to nature in her personal life in Portugal. [18:26] Regenerative leadership asks ‘How can I heal and regenerate from my actions?’ and ‘How can I bring about more value than I take?’ [25:03] The leaders that the world desperately needs right now have to cultivate a greater ecosystem awareness. [28:19] How a brain injury led Laura to experience a string of epiphanies, including both massive breakthroughs as well as breakdowns, suffering and transformation. [36:30] The variation in her daily meditation practice that has furthered Laura’s inner journey. [41:45] Do you let your head lead the way? Or do you listen to your body and let it lead you? The importance of cultivating both a strong inner and outer connection. [46:51] Laura’s book provides the framework for building regenerative life-affirming businesses. [53:19] The logic of life is our translation of the intelligence of nature, and Laura explains how that fact has to factor into everything that we do. [59:11] Shamanism — the value of understanding its practices and the importance of incorporating it into leadership and businesses. [1:03:44] Words of wisdom to help your inner cultivation so that you can have a greater positive influence on the world around you. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Laura Storm Regenerating Leadership: The DNA of Life Affirming 21st Century Organizations by Laura Storm and Giles Hutchins Free Meditation Courses — 30 Days of Mindful Living “Little Earthquakes” by Tori Amos

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The Essential Leadership Skills in a VUCA World

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2020 24:36

Today’s VUCA world we are being faced with challenges and unprecedented complexities the world of leaders and managers have never seen before. “The solutions to our current problems cannot be solved from the level of consciousness that created them. They can only be solved from a higher order of consciousness, one that is more complex than the complexity we face. Therefore, it is prudent, we uplevel our inner skills now so we lead consciously at work and in the world. In the months to come, I will outline the 6 conscious inner game skills we can all learn and grow to become the people we need to be to impact the greatest positive change in the years to come. In today’s solo episode, I will guide you in how to cultivate the skill of self-awareness as a way of turning inward, reflecting on your experiences, your motivations and the consequences of your actions so that you can continue to learn and grow. By cultivating the inner game of self awareness, others will perceive you as confident, present, capable, even visionary. Increased self-awareness will allow you an important skill to stay present and grounded amidst all the changes. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces the importance of cultivating the inner conscious game skills that will allow you to be more emotionally adaptable during these unprecedented times. [4:26] Self-awareness is the first of six inner conscious inner game skills, and it starts with recognizing your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, then turning inward and taking action as a result. [5:45] Defining this VUCA time and understanding the effects of an off-balanced system within yourself and within your work. [8:02] Each of the topics we will cover in the next six months of conscious leadership training. [9:25] What might be getting in the way of doing the inner work? Carley highlights Maslov’s hierarchy of needs and explains the role of each in our ability to show up as our best self. [12:43] Increased self-awareness gives you the opportunity to identify what you can heal and transform in order to thrive in difficult times. [13:09] Carley leads listeners through a meditation exercise that will help cultivate greater inner and outer awareness. [20:58] The results of increased self-awareness start with the ability to remain present and mindful in everything you do and are faced with. [23:26] Carley invites listeners to join into each of the upcoming leadership skills episodes and to share the podcast on your favorite social media channel. Resources: Leading from Wholeness Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals

Why Cultivating a Conscious Inner Game is Essential During a Pandemic

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Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2020 31:42

In this solo interview I share about the 6 inner game skills necessary for leaders and workers to thrive in our changing world. I will chart out the steps you can take to grow this in the coming months to stay grounded and grow yourself into who you need to be to lead, flourish, and adapt wisely now and for the future. The word Apocalypse means the lifting of the veil. We need to hang in and create practices and structures now that will support us to lead consciously internally and externally through this pandemic and the next year. “Every challenge comes with a gift and every gift comes with a challenge. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the gift.” Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces Leading from Wholeness and shares some of the highlights and goals of the Shine podcast. [4:15] Carley reflects on her pandemic experience and the results that came from her Embodying Courage journey. [8:30] The possibilities for change that are so greatly needed in our nation and our world all start with a mindful cultivation of our inner game. [13:22] The history of the power of leaders, a look at today’s economic landscape and environment, and the call for braver exchanges and greater leadership consciousness. [16:25] A reflection on the opportunity to reset ourselves, to create greater balance, and to make the inner choices that will better serve our outer environment. [17:49] Carley leads listeners through a grounding practice that leads to greater inner balance and mindfulness. [24:28] The importance of staying present in the body rather than getting stuck in the mind during times of greatest trial. [27:11] Carley shares her upcoming plans to help listeners develop the inner game qualities in ways that will positively influence your outer game and how you show up in the world. [31:00] An invitation and offering for listeners to join in the Leading Courageously Group Coaching Program. Resources: Carley Hauck Website Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Embodying Courage Leading Courageously Group Coaching Program Time to Rise & Breakthrough Ocean Hero search engine

Practice Forgiveness with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2020 11:06

Since the beginning of shelter in place regulations, many of us have experienced increased stress and have been spending more time with those we live with than usual. This guided meditation helps us open to self-compassion and forgiveness. Show notes: Meditation by Carley Hauck. Carley Hauck is an author and expert in leadership. She is the founder of Leading from Wholeness, a consultancy company that helps workplaces operate from a people-first approach.

How to Call Up and Out Unacceptable Behaviors and Unethical Leadership with Jeff Brown

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Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2020 59:55

Jeff Brown is the author of the book Grounded Spirituality, which calls out and critically reviews ungrounded spiritualities, and presents a new model of authentic humanness, offering us a more integrated, embodied, and heartfelt path going forward. We can see the misuse of power in the highest levels of leadership — in politics, in Hollywood, and even in spiritual communities. Jeff has joined me today to explore the reasons that too many of us don’t feel empowered to speak up against the misuse of power. He encourages the process that we must work through to begin on the path toward healing. This is a process that I have been very engaged in over the last year, and I feel very passionate about it. The time for speaking out is now and I want to endow you with the words and confidence that you need to call up and call out unacceptable behaviors wherever you might see them. Speaking up encourages accountability so these patterns stop and we can heal vs hurt. This is what our world needs today. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck shares the need to call out intolerable behaviors in leadership, what is at the root of not speaking up, and choosing a different path. She is joined by author and activist Jeff Brown. [4:05] Jeff Brown shares the events and spiritual understanding that led him to write Grounded Spirituality. [7:54] Jeff defines patriarchal spirituality as the man-created and -dominated way that some people embody enlightenment and rationalize a lack of integrity. [11:22] Understanding the relationship between the new cage community and grounded spirituality as it best serves an enlightened individual. [17:12] Carley and Jeff both share some of the grounded spirituality practices that have led them to greater mindfulness. [20:10] The Soulshaping Facebook group and why we need to have safe places for conversations about unconscious leaders and spiritual communities that are not acting with integrity. [25:25] Understanding the dark side of communities that are not acting in integrity, including two California organizations, and Carley’s warning to avoid involvement with them. [30:00] Jeff shares the human psychology and patriarchal spirituality factors that play a role in remaining subject to an abusive leader, and why we have to question their teachings. [37:30] Anger and forgiveness, the danger of forgiving injustices too quickly, and the need for working through anger rather than bypassing it. [43:10] Jeff shares a call to action — to embrace the idea that repressed emotions are unactualized spiritual lessons, and that seeking healing is the highest form of spiritual practice and offers recommendations to begin healing. [48:03] Carley leads listeners through the purpose and the step-by-step process of calling out and calling up, including questions and dialogue examples that will enable you to find the strength to speak up. Resources: Living Well Awake Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Breakthrough at Living Well Awake Brave Exchanges: Workshop #1 Healing the Gender Divide Today’s Guest Jeff Brown Soulshaping Institute Soulshaping Facebook Group Grounded Spirituality by Jeff Brown Jeff’s Recommendations Somatic Experiencing Tension, Stress, and Trauma Release Bioenergetic Therapy Core Energenetics Links to News Articles “The survivor who broke the Shambhala sexual assault story” “No Accountability for Interchange Counseling Institute Founder Steve Bearman” “Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape at New York Trial”

Creating Incentive Systems For a Just and Thriving World with Raman Frey

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2020 72:34

Raman Frey, is first and foremost an amazing human and my dear friend. Raman is the founder of Good People Dinners, a Bay Area community focused on meaningful conversations that bring together professional chefs and thoughtful speakers on a variety of topics. Raman is an incredible speaker, moderator, interviewer, and author. His writing has appeared in many publications, including Harvard Business Review. Raman has written a book on how we might design and deploy new incentive systems to create a more just and thriving world. This is the topic of this Shine podcast interview. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces the Breakthrough conscious leadership program and her upcoming March 14th Brave Exchange Workshop: Healing the Gender Divide with Raman Frey. [4:46] Carley introduces Raman Frey, who has joined her to discuss ways to design and employ incentive systems that encourage a just and thriving world. [7:17] Raman shares the experiences that led his passion for creating incentives with positive environmental and social governance impact. [13:05] Defining the concept of Incentive System Design and why humans need to desire less greed and to live in greater harmony with the planet. [16:53] Raman shares his book recommendations and their main concepts, including behavioral and biological constraints, capital beats labor, and why more is not always better for everyone. [24:48] Why do we need hundreds of different solutions to the Earth’s greatest challenges, and how do we elevate the inner consciousness to lead from more love? [30:22] Understanding power — who it benefits, how it is in conflict with the more altruistic Incentive Systems Design, and what we must remember in order to rise above it’s darker side. [40:00] Is it possible for a technology to maintain an altruistic state as it gains power and turns into a more and more powerful weapon? [47:05] Leveling the playing field — what will it take to secure more equality and greater diversity at the top? [54:52] The ability to have real, meaningful conversations starts with cultivating the inner skills of empathy, authenticity, vulnerability and trust, which you can practice at the upcoming Brave Exchange Workshop. [59:05] Raman shares his vision of an ideal world that includes redefining the incentive systems that shape human behaviors, how to recognize when we have enough, and what to do next. [1:05:52] Overcoming inequality will start with creating a world of belonging to community, family, neighborhood and cultivating a greater sense of self worth. [1:08:11] Raman highlights his upcoming August 7-14th Good People adventures retreat. [1:11:02] Carley closes with an invitation to attend the March 14th Brave Exchanges workshop. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Breakthrough at Living Well Awake Brave Exchanges: Workshop #1 Healing the Gender Divide Raman Frey Good People Dinners Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind by David Berreby Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas The Economics of Inequality by Thomas Piketty Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant Kate Raworth TEDTalk: A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow

The Role of Male Allyship in Conscious Leadership and Business with Vince Guglielmetti

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2020 37:35

Vince Guglielmetti takes pride in creating an inclusive environment and was recognized as Intel Inclusive Leader of the Year in 2017. He declared that he would drive to 40% gender diversity by 2025 at Intel Costa Rica. Inclusive Leadership and his passion for developing others to achieve more than they believe possible is what motivates him. He is a strong believer that when you combine technical excellence with leading people in a positive way, you can do anything. Vince serves as the VP/GM, AMR Manufacturing Operations at Intel. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake. [1:52] Allyship is a tool that creates a culture of belonging in the workplace to allow everyone a chance to be included, heard and acknowledged. [5:25] Recognizing the importance of male allyship in light of the presidential impeachment trial. [7:58] To Vince Guglielmetti, male allyship is the ability to use the power and privilege he has to change the world. [10:57] Highlighting the Men Advocating Real Change program which empowers men to engage as allies for workplace inclusion. [13:57] How does male allyship overcome and reverse the negative effects of manbox culture? [19:18] The language that allies use to promote inclusion, raise awareness, and create safety in the workplace. [22:20] Steps you can take to encourage allyship from employees who may be hesitant to join in the effort. [25:00] A look at the efforts of Intel’s Ally Nation program of inclusion in leadership and in the workplace. [27:12] Vince’s advice for growing empathy and compassion as a leader starts with staying informed and aware and advocating those whose voice isn’t heard yet. [31:13] What gives Vince Guglielmetti hope for the future? [33:33] Carley closes with specific actions that can be taken to raise awareness, increase inclusion, speak up and act today. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Breakthrough at Living Well Awake Intel’s Inclusion Program Men Advocating Real Change Ally Nation Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg “The Role of Male Allyship in Conscious Leadership and Business” by Carley Hauk Better Man Conference

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Time to Rise & Breakthrough

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2020 28:44

In this solo interview I want to connect more deeply with you about the stages of death and rebirth. In 2020, it is important that we shed what is no longer serving us individually and then rise together to be in service of each other and our world. There is a hospicing of old systems and a need for new leadership and business, and I hope you will find encouragement as I share the 8 stages in the hero or heroine’s journey that you can use as a template to navigate your own transition from death to rebirth in your life. Join me on the path and discover how you can breakthrough with your greatest gifts in this next year and decade. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake. [1:51] Carley shares her experience of flying on the “good side” on a recent trip to Costa Rica and calls for more love, wisdom, and generosity in the workplace and the world. [5:49] There is a call and a need for a refocus on dying and rebirth that can be seen in the fires around the world. [7:00] The heroine experiences in 2019 that have led Carley to face this new year with strength and hope. [8:25] Carley leads her listeners through the map of the heroine’s journey, from the stages of illusion and betrayal to awakening which offers greater clarity of our choices and a higher level of wisdom and understanding. [10:55] An update on Carley’s book and the unexpected timeline detour it took in 2019. [12:45] Continuing on through ascent and the eye of the hurricane, into the deepest stage of the journey, and toward the eventual divine intervention that helps us toward rebirth. [16:16] An invitation to find yourself in the stages of death and rebirth and to approach that stage with an open mind, heart, and will. [17:12] Questions you need to ask yourself as you reflect on your intentions and commitments for this month. [19:56] Encouragement to embrace the hard parts of transformation so that you can gain strength and wisdom and emerge triumphantly. [23:18] Carley calls for a reflection on the ways you can spend your precious life force and energy in this time you have on our planet. [26:02] Details for the upcoming free webinar for leaders — 4 Keys to Transforming Burnout — and an invitation for you to join this meeting of intentional leaders. [26:19] Carley closes with the powerful words of Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Living Well Awake 30 Days of Mindful Living 4 Keys to Transforming Burnout

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The Hidden Power of the Shadow: The Dark Comes Before the Dawn with Jennifer Brown

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2019 69:59

My friend Jennifer Brown is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, diversity and inclusion consultant, and author. She is the author of The Inclusive Leader and host of the podcast the Will to Change. Jennifer and I speak about the importance of taking time for contemplation, reflection, and shedding of what is no longer serving our workplaces or our world. There is a hospicing of old systems and with that comes resistance, dying, and surrender. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake. [1:40] Carley introduces today’s guest Jennifer Brown, consultant and diversity and inclusion expert, and the topics that are covered in this powerful interview. [3:42] Jennifer explains the thought process behind her favorite quote and how it influences her efforts in leadership. [8:28] Carley shares one of her favorite Brene Brown quotes and the permission it gives her to show up, learn, and try again. [9:25] Inclusion doesn’t mean never making mistakes, but it does mean that you are willing to apologize and offer grace to those who have made missteps. [12:15] Defining and separating the terms inclusion, diversity and belonging and how each one affects us. [15:31] The four stages of the advocacy ally-continuum from unaware to accomplice. [23:40] A sampling of the identities that Jennifer focuses on at any given time so as to not overwhelm herself with all that she’s not doing, including mental health, ethnicity, disabilities and more. [24:24] Carley restates the four stages in the ally-continuum and shares her experiences with humility as she continues learning about inclusion and diversity. [27:08] Jennifer offers suggestions for inclusive terms and the value of sharing pronouns. [30:42] The courage and self-awareness that is key to moving along the ally-continuum. [35:23] Carley offers reflection on Jennifer’s integrity, consciousness and truth-telling and her thoughts on appropriately asking questions to seek understanding. [40:00] Challenging the story that too often leads to trauma and stress begins with finding environments where you can celebrate who you are. [46:42] Techniques everyone can utilize when working to become an aspiring ally for other communities. [49:22] Carley shares her experience with Vince Gugglielmetti, the Intel leader who is increasing his allyship by understanding the experiences of women leaders. [51:00] Jennifer recommends orienting a learning plan for yourself to increase your understanding of diversity. [54:14] Privileges, responsibilities, and opportunities that will come with the new decade has to start with more people stepping up to take part in the conversations that have been left in the shadows. [1:02:27] Jennifer shares what she is letting go of, what she is calling in, and what she is working on in the coming year. [1:06:41] Carley closes with an additional way to support inclusion and self-awareness with the gift of mindfulness. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Living Well Awake 30 Days of Mindful Living Jennifer Brown Speaks The Will to Change Podcast @jenniferbrown on Twitter How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive by Jennifer Brown Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by Ruth King

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Conscious Kirtan Can Heal the World with Jai Uttal

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2019 73:19

Jai Uttal is a pioneer in the world music community. He inspires minds and hearts to awaken through devotional song and chanting, also known as kirtan. I discovered Jai and kirtan over 13 years ago. I have sang and danced with Jai near and far. In addition to meditation and yoga, kirtan has been a huge part of my spiritual practice. It is a way I stay connected to my heart and courage amidst the challenges in our world. In the interview, Jai speaks about how he stays inspired, uplifted, resilient and his thoughts on how we can awaken humanity through singing, generosity, and being in conscious community. I invite you to try kirtan as part of your new conscious routine. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [1:40] Carley introduces Jai Uttal, a pioneer in the world music community whose music connects the mind, heart, body and soul, and she shares one of her favorite mantras. [7:18] Jai reflects on his first musical memories and the inception of his spiritual journey. [15:02] The components of kirtan include notes, which are a doorway into the divine; mantra, a language of prayer with transformational powers; and repetition. [19:05] Jai shares the spectrum of emotions, including all levels of both light and darkness, that allow him to foster spiritual connections with other people and result in a greater joy. [24:06] How does kirtan aid with the healing and transformation that is so desperately needed in our world today? [32:10] Jai’s tips for starting a personal practice of kirtan include making a simple commitment to yourself that you can easily uphold, worth with the voice and body that you have, and select mantras that you like best. [38:42] I invite you to join me and Jai as we share one of the simplest and most loved mantras. [45:08] The simple ways that I bring kirtan into my life, and my favorite mantras. [47:33] Jai shares his personal practices, the mantras that he repeats before he gets out of bed in the morning, and his recommendation for the ideal length of a meditation practice. [53:22] Reflections on the ways that we can truly serve and support others and lead both in our personal and professional life. [56:26] The intense spiritual connection that is alive and bright in the world today is the basis of Jai’s greatest source of hope. [59:33] A showcase of organizations and individuals that are doing good in the world, including One Tree Planted and Salesforce. [1:07:38] Carley offers the Living Well Awake 30 Days of Mindful Living program, available to you to practice at your own pace and throughout the years to come. [1:10:37] We close with a guided one minute gratitude practice and the gift of one of my favorite mantras. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Jai Uttal One Tree Salesforce.org Trevor Noah Greta Thunberg Living Well Awake 30 Days of Mindful Living

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Resilience in Binge Eating and Overeating with Carley Hauck

Never Binge Again(tm)

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2019 26:05

Carley Hauck is Founder of Living Well Awake, a Bay Area consultancy focused on leadership & development, executive coaching, and cultural transformation. Carley has supported individuals to bring their whole and best selves to work at organizations such as: LinkedIn, Pixar, Bank of the West, Asana, and many high growth start ups. Carley is an […] The post Resilience in Binge Eating and Overeating with Carley Hauck appeared first on The Never Binge Again Blog.

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Resilience in Binge Eating and Overeating with Carley Hauck

Never Binge Again(tm)

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2019 26:05

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We Are All In This Together- Choosing People and Planet First with Mike Robbins

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2019 60:55

Inclusion and belonging are universal needs, and the need to heal the differences that divide us is growing every day. But we know that not everyone has the privilege of using their voice to affect the change that is so urgently needed. Mike Robbins is an author and speaker who is using his place of privilege to be that voice and help heal the world. Mike and I speak of the need for authenticity in all of our relationships and how to effectively speak up as an ally for those who aren’t in a position to speak for themselves. Mike shares his heart as he offers his perspective and the emotions that come with working to empower people everywhere. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [1:40] Carley reflects on recent political activity that has removed the United States from the Paris Agreement and the current environmental climate in India. [6:10] Carley introduces Mike Robbins, author, speaker and thought leader who is committed to understanding race, ethnicity and the reasons behind polarity in our workplace and our world. [7:46] Mike shares the inspiration behind his fifth and latest book We’re All In This Together and his concern for the immense diversity that is present throughout the world. [11:34] The continuum of authenticity runs from being phony to being honest and, ideally, to being authentic and honest without any measure of self-righteousness. [15:02] Inclusion and belonging is a universal need, but how can we allow ourselves to feel vulnerable enough to promote belonging when there is so much polarization in the workplace and in the world? It starts with ending the desire to be the ‘biggest victim’. [20:58] Everyone has different reasons for why experiences are difficult for them, but creating inner belonging is the first step to cultivating outer belonging. [24:10] Privilege means your starting line is closer to a goal than someone else's. What positive and productive changes are you willing to make with your privilege? [26:58] Mike shares his life experiences with the Man Box culture and how it has shaped his views about the . [32:55] Is there a pathway for forgiveness and redemption in a culture that currently promotes never apologizing for and never for forgiving offenses? [40:15] How can men speak up and speak out against men who are being unhealthy and unconscious at work and in the world? People in privileged positions are in the best place possible to speak up and be the change. [47:46] Being a true ally starts with stepping up and speaking up when things are happening. [51:06] Slowing down allows us to focus more on the things that bring us together and less on the things that drive us apart. [54:34] Mike shares the practices that allow him to show up as a conscious leader, starting with his physical and mental health, his writing, and grounding himself in his family. [57:38] Carley shares details of the upcoming Transtech Conference in Palo Alto, CA on November 15th-16th and highlights her coaching package and free 30-minute discovery coaching sessions. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Executive Coaching Living Well Awake Coaching Application Transtech Conference 2019 Mike Robbins We’re All In This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust and Exercise by Mike Robbins Bring Your Whole Self to Work: How Vulnerability Unlocks Creativity, Connection, and Performance by Mike Robbins

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Transforming Your Relationship to Money — Interconnectedness is the New Currency with Deb Nelson

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2019 42:22

Deb Nelson is the Vice President of Client & Community Engagement at RSF Social Finance. At RSF Social Finance they envision a world in which money serves the highest intentions of the human spirit and contributes to an economy based on generosity and interconnectedness. Learn Deb’s thoughts about how money can be used to heal the world around us. Deb is passionate about economic justice, women’s rights/human rights, environmental sustainability, hiking amidst redwood forests, and courageous leadership. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck — founder of Living Well Awake and the Shine podcast — introduces the sponsor for this episode: RSF Social Finance. [2:15] Carley reflects on the need for hospicing old ways in our beautiful world, and introduces Deb Nelson, VP of Client and Community Engagement, who has come onto today’s podcast to share a new financial system that can better support all people and our planet. [5:52] Deb outlines the experiences from her childhood and winding career path that helped shape her views of money and the need to reinvent its place in our world today. [9:14] The questions everyone should take time to answer in order to identify their relationship with money and ways money can be used to support values. [11:48] An overview of the work and initiative of RSF Social Finance, its investors and donors. [13:02] A spotlight on Jessica Norwood, social entrepreneur and founder of The Runway Project, who tackled the racial wealth gap issue in the US head-on and has created an immensely successful company as a result. [17:29] A look at the social investment fund at RSF Finance and the kind of people that are working to create an economy based on connection rather than separation. [23:01] Deb’s recipe for resilience as she juggles her many roles as a mother, a career woman and a deliberate leader starts with humility and persistence. [26:29] Feeling all of the emotions that live in our bodies without getting stuck in the story that accompanies them is a far more healthy and productive way to face the hard realities of today’s world. [35:33] A spotlight on Sallie Calhoun of the #NoRegrets initiative who used her wealth to focus on fighting climate changes and regenerative agriculture and soil health solutions. [38:43] Deb closes with the call to question assumptions about money and reject the belief that you can’t move money for good. [39:54] Carley encourages listeners to learn more about RSF Finance and offers an overview of the free coaching sessions that she is offering her through the Womens Conscious Leadership program. This Episode Sponsored By: RSF Social Finance Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Womens Conscious Leadership Program RSF Social Finance The Runway Project #NoRegrets Initiative

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Healing #MeToo — Remaking Men to Be Manbassadors with Mark Greene

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2019 75:31

Mark Greene is the founder of Remaking Manhood. He writes, speaks and consults on masculinity, culture, relational intelligence, diversity and inclusion. Mark and I speak about the systemic problem of #Me too and how we can enroll those in power to be manbassadors for women. Mark and I speak about the power of listening, speak up and lead as a civic and social voice. how we can each show up differently, speak up, and create new agreements and accountability His articles on masculinity have been shared half a million times on social media with 20 million page views. He is a Senior Editor at the Good Men Project. Mark’s newest book, The Little #MeToo Book for Men, has been called “a blueprint for men’s liberation.” Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck — founder of Living Well Awake and the new Shine podcast — shares the personal experience motivated her drive to help heal the #MeToo movement. [5:35] Carley introduces Mark Greene, an author and speaker who is committed to breaking down the masculinity culture that enables violence against women. [7:07] Understand the #MeToo movement origins and the statistics of sexual, psychological, and physical abuse behind its overwhelming response. [10:08] Mark shares his experiences as a father that prompted his involvement in the mission and cause of redefining masculinity. [13:35] Defining the ‘Man Box’ rules and the negative impact they have on boys and men in our culture as well as the imbalance of defining gender roles in the workplace. [21:14] What does the collective agreement about being a man look like ? [30:12] The loss of empathy is a result of denigrating the feminine in favor of masculinity, but it men and women are not the only groups affected by it. [34:55] Carley shares an example of the importance of raising self-awareness and emotional intelligence from the inside out in order to lead consciously at work and in the world. [41:32] Consider the conscious example of leader and CEO Marc Benioff of Salesforce, who identified a prejudiced inequality in the workplace and used his influence to bring it to an end. [43:22] Given the current political and gender inequality climate, ask yourself if you are willing to stay silent, or if you’re ready to speak up and consider a situation from another’s point of view. [49:40] The value of fostering honest conversations that supersede gender differences. [54:11] The critical importance of breaking the male-dominated culture of masculinity. [58:23] How can we teach the next generation about the importance of eliminating the culture of masculinity? [1:01:57] Mark’s call to action for both men and women to shift to a culture that is more conscious, and it starts with the meaningful conversations we need to have with each other. [1:04:50] Carley offers a look at the gender continuum presented by Jennifer Brown and shares best practices for men who want to be better collaborators with women. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Womens Conscious Leadership Program Better Man Conference Remaking Manhood The Little #MeToo Book for Men by Mark Greene

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Leading with Heart & Soul: Connecting People, Purpose, and Planet with Jen Freitas

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2019 50:02

Jen Freitas is the Director of People, Learning & Development at Clif Bar. Jen started at Clif Bar almost 19 years ago as a kickboxing instructor and made her way up the leadership ladder. She found a company where she can bring her whole and best self to work. Jen was on a journey to find the right role and company that was in sync with her values personally and professionally. All of the values of taking care of people, taking care of the planet and living in harmony with the planet were in Jens heart and soul. Learn about Clif’s amazing mission and what supports to Jen to shine her leadership light bright. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck — founder of Living Well Awake and the new Shine podcast — introduces the podcast and recaps her experience at the first Planet Home Conference in San Francisco. [3:23] Carley introduces the Clif Bar company, their five aspirations and commitments, and today’s guest Jen Freitas. [5:45] Jen shares the journey that took her from kickboxing instructor to Clif Bar Director of Learning and Engagement. [12:00] Jen and Carley share their common experiences of harnessing expression and release through kickboxing. [14:16] Your overall wellbeing will be enhanced when you dedicate yourself to a cause that aligns with your values and priorities, whether that is living in harmony with the planet, caring for people, or taking time for your physical and mental health. [20:11] Clif’s mission exemplifies a company that supports the overall wellbeing for their employees, and it shows in their employee satisfaction and low employment turnover rate. [24:04] Clif Bar is shifting far away from the corporate model by focusing on the public good first and taking care of the planet and their employees in an environment of healing while still being profitable. [28:33] The popular sabbatical program at Clif allows employees to take a chance to reset and refocus on the values that matter most. [33:38] Workplace challenges have allowed Jen to grow as a leader and helped her find a balance between her limitations and her skills. [38:35] Carley shares the importance of owning your limitations and areas for potential growth with those that you are leading. [41:08] Lead without leading — Jen’s career advice starts with focusing on the positive impact you can make regardless of your position title. [43:50] Staying centered on their aspirations is keeping the future of Clif focused and bright. [48:43] Carley encourages listeners to connect with her and to leave a review for her podcast so that it can inspire even more listeners. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals 350.org Clif Bar

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Be a World Changing Woman

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2019 54:07

Meghan French Dunbar is the founder of Conscious Company Magazine. Meghan saw the importance of making a difference in the lives of others. She discovered the power of business to be a force for good in the world through her work at the Environmental Defense Fund and then deepened her sense of purpose at the Presidio Graduate School. Megan will share how to be a world-changing woman connected to purpose, planet, all while holding the roles of wife, entrepreneur, and motherhood. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and the sponsor of this episode, RSF Social Finance [2:08] Carley reflects on the 40,000 acres of Amazon rainforests that are on fire and the current state of the world ecosystem and offers encouragement for the future. [4:28] Carley introduces Meghan French Dunbar, CEO of Conscious Company Media, which focuses on sustainability, careers, and business. [6:25] Meghan shares the path that led her to starting a company that produces a magazine for the next generation that focuses on sustainable, conscious, purpose driven business. [8:12] TRU Colors Brewery is one company that has inspired Meghan by their efforts to change a community for the better by working with local gangs. [12:36] Bravery, vulnerability, and authenticity are three words that Carley uses to describe Meghan, and they discuss how any leader can cultivate these characteristics to be true to themselves and more effective in their leadership. [20:01] New leaders and emerging entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes Meghan made, including telling yourself a different story when things get hard, taking care of yourself, spending time in nature, and nurturing relationships. [26:10] Meghan’s recipe for resilience in light of motherhood starts with strengthening her family relationships and setting intentions for what you want an experience to be. [32:57] Meghan’s values including expressing and receiving love and valuing exploration and lifelong learning. [34:58] Surrounding yourself with like minded people and giving yourself permission to take time off from your work will strengthen your ability to lead effectively and with love. [40:41] Meghan’s excitement about motherhood centers around her opportunity to help shape a better world for the future of her son. [45:39] All about Spectrum — the premier gathering of multicultural changemakers creating an inclusive impact economy. [50:10] The capabilities of the up and coming generation gives Meghan hope about the future of the world and business. [52:43] Carley encourages listeners to connect with her and to leave a review for her podcast so that it can inspire even more listeners. This Episode Sponsored By: RSF Social Finance Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people www.livingwellawake.com/executive-coaching Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Conscious Company Media World Changing Women Podcast TRU Colors Brewery Spectrum

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Financing the Green New Deal

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2019 53:41

Alicia Seiger is a lecturer at Stanford Law School and leads sustainable and energy finance initiatives at Stanford law and business schools as well as at the Precourt Institute for Energy. In this interview, Alicia shares the hopes and challenges towards creating financial structures that will support a Clean Energy Economy. This inspiring and educational talk will open your eyes and highlight the changes needed for a green new deal to gain traction. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:16] Carley introduces Alicia Seiger, lecturer at Stanford Law School and sustainable and energy finance initiative leader. [4:20] Definitions of the terms you will hear during this conversation, including IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the Paris Agreement, and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). [7:20] Alicia explains the focused efforts of the Stanford Sustainable Finance Initiative, including private investment, risk management, stranded asset compensation, and integration of new systems. [11:45] Alicia’s passion for this work stems from an early childhood appreciation of nature, her college studies and an entrepreneurial drive. [14:36] Advances toward sustainable initiatives starts with identifying the real dangers of current global conditions and making positive, immediate policy and planning changes. [19:12] Dollar figures that illustrate the economic losses that will come if changes are not made now. [23:11] Alicia’s daily practices to stay grounded in her work include yoga and running, interacting with innovative students and colleagues, spending time in nature with her family, and a desire to protect her daughters. [29:24] Navigating the big emotions that come with conquering climate change for Alicia means coming face to face with mortality and embracing the inevitable future of the Earth. [33:40] How can we inspire big companies, cities and states to better align with sustainable development goals? [40:31] Alicia’s recommendations for inspiring businesses and investors to initiate better spending starts with understanding climate and transition risks as well as the economic opportunities that will come with implementing change now. [44:52] The Green New Deal is all about people — the poor, vulnerable, and women in particular are especially affected by climate. [48:17] A look at the employment opportunities that are available to the next level of emerging leaders in climate change business. [51:10] Carley’s invitation to attend Planet Home in San Francisco on September 13-15, 2019. This Episode Sponsored By: RSF Social Finance Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people www.livingwellawake.com/executive-coaching Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Planet Home Stanford Sustainable Finance Initiative Alicia Seiger Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming edited by Paul Hawken Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit by Al Gore

How to Be an Epic Conscious Leader

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2019 62:21

Aaron Tartakovsky is the co-founder and CEO at Epic CleanTec. Epic CleanTec is revolutionizing the future of water and sanitation. Buildings worldwide use 14% of all potable water and very few buildings recycle it. Epic CleanTec is creating a patented on-site treatment technology that quickly converts building wastewater solids into a high-quality soil product. This carbon rich and endlessly renewable soil can be used to grow crops, enhance gardens, and beautify green spaces. Learn Aaron’s recipe for being an Epic Entrepreneur. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:16] Carley introduces Aaron Tartakovsky, co-founder and CEO at Epic CleanTec who is working to shine the light in his work efforts. [5:30] If things aren’t right in the world, you have to act to make the change. Aaron shares how he is doing just that with Epic CleanTec and beyond. [12:33] The on-site wastewater treatment process at Epic CleanTec starts with replicating water as it is treated in nature. [19:36] Rethinking human waste options by creating carbon rich fertilizers may seem ‘yucky’ but it has the potential to replace fossil-fuel based fertilizers being imported from overseas. [25:23] Aaron’s daily practice of gratitude has kept him aligned with what really matters in his life and work. [29:26] How Aaron finds his center through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and developing a new business. [32:39] What does Aaron love so much that he is willing to fight to protect it? Family and community are at the top of his list. [35:33] Winning the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit gave Epic a platform and the validation to continue moving forward. [40:14] The future of Epic CleanTec includes commercial and residential high-rise building installations in downtown San Francisco. [42:20] Aaron’s inspiration include Kathy Fields of Proactiv and Rodan + Fields and his own mother, who runs the Jewish Family Social Services Agency in San Francisco. [48:30] The value of finding balance while working hard and taking time to cherish those you love. [53:56] Aaron’s call to action for anyone that is venturing into entrepreneurship starts with not taking yourself so seriously, taking risks and trying new things. [58:40] Aaron’s final piece of advice is about taking better care of water because it affects everything and everyone. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people www.livingwellawake.com/executive-coaching Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Epic CleanTec 350.org Global Climate Action Summit

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Cultivate Inner Belonging to Heal the World

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2019 62:55

Dena Samuels is my friend and colleague. Dena is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consultant and Coach who uses mindfulness to reduce unconscious bias at work and in the world. Dena has a long standing background in academia but wanted to come out of the classroom and into the world to shift the landscape of work. In this inspiring interview, learn how to increase safety and create true cultural inclusion by starting with leading from your entire self, heart, body, and wisdom. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:16] Carley introduces Dena Samuels, who shares the experiences that led her to work with diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the world. [9:36] How can we build relationships across our differences? You can begin by identifying just one individual in the group. [10:27] Belongingness and overcoming the negativity bias to achieve true cultural inclusion for your entire self. [18:12] Dena’s mindfulness practice suggestions include speaking, interactions, prayer, and more. [21:27] Linking mindfulness to inclusion and belonging starts with naming your limiting emotions so you can move forward from them. [27:18] Identify your biases with Harvard’s Project Implicit so that you can work on changing them even if you can’t eliminate them. [31:49] Handling microaggressions in the workplace — how you can mitigate and handle hard situations in a meaningful way. [35:05] Eliminating microaggressions can start with correct languaging and gentle intervention by calling people into greater mindfulness of their words. [42:35] Embracing the shadow versus the light — increase your self-compassion and inner belonging by understanding and accepting yourself before all else. [45:21] Interconnectedness and the environment — consider who will get hurt first and worst by natural accidents or poor practices. [51:05] Dena leads us through a mindfulness practice of supporting interconnectedness with the environment. [58:53] Wrapping up with Dena — start to cultivate belonging by admitting your shame and then showing up again. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people www.livingwellawake.com/executive-coaching Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lead From Light Daily Rituals Dena Samuels The Mindfulness Effect: An Unexpected Path to Healing, Connection and Social Justice by Dena Samuels Project Implicit

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Imagine a World Where There Is Enough For Everyone

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2019 53:45

Since 2008, Bea Johnson and her family have stayed committed to producing a mere pint of trash per year. Bea’s best-selling book Zero Waste Home shatters misconceptions, proving that zero waste can not only be stylish, but also lead to significant health benefits, and time and money savings. Bea initiated a global movement and in this interview, you will learn how you too can start living and leading with less waste in easy and effective ways. Key Takeaways: [:01] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:16] Carley introduces Bea Johnson, who shares the reasons that living a simpler, zero waste life matters to her and her family. [7:57] Compare Bea’s time living the American Dream in a big, empty house to her fuller, simpler life in a smaller house. [14:43] Buying is voting — how each purchase you make shows what matters to you. [16:53] A look at climate science and the facts that bring Bea hope for getting closer to a sustainable way of living. [22:30] Amazon or eBay? Businesses that are striving for zero waste, the concept of unpackaged products, and rethinking our online orders. [27:58] Commonalities that Bea has discovered while speaking in 65 countries around the world. [33:25] The importance of valuing less — less work, less stuff, and less stress. [38:22] Why is the United States one of the slowest growing zero waste countries in the world? [41:15] Five easy actions that anyone can take to get on the path to a zero waste lifestyle. [49:26] Carley’s call to action — how can you say no in order to say yes to what you really want? Start by refusing, reducing, and reusing today. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people www.livingwellawake.com/executive-coaching Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Zero Waste Home Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life By Reducing Your Waste by Bea Johnson Bulk Finder Lead From Light Daily Rituals

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From Hospice to Rebirth: Bringing forth the next emergence of leaders and business

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2019 59:34

On today’s Shine podcast, Carley Hauck is joined by Lynne Twist, author of Soul of Money and cofounder of the Pachamama Alliance. Lynn will share how to bring forth the emergence of leadership and business through cultivating an inner game mind and heartset of “enoughness”. Key Takeaways: [:04] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:04] Carley introduces Lynne Twist, philanthropist, author, speaker, and founder of The Pachamama Alliance. [5:31] Lynne speaks of her dedication to The Hunger Project and how it has shaped her life and her work. [11:30] The fundraising methodology that inspired The Soul of Money and the relationship-healing wisdom found within the book. [14:15] The foundation and ethic of The Pachamama Alliance — and how the organization is changing the dream of the modern world. [21:08] The ways that Lynne has awakened within herself in order to lead others effectively. [27:58] Lynne shares her experiences of finding cleansing and healing with plant medicines. [34:08] Honoring Barbara Märx Hubbard — her vision for an evolutionary future and the words of wisdom she would want listeners to hear. [43:45] The losses that comes with pushing a company to grow bigger and better and faster rather than embracing ‘enoughness’. [46:20] Overcoming the scarcity mindset and what you will experience when you achieve a more fulfilled life. [50:58] Carley’s takeaways include seeing the abundance in your life and how you can make a more positive contribution to the world. [52:53] A call to action to help you shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset, and to embrace enoughness within yourself. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Living Well Awake newsletter www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people www.livingwellawake.com/executive-coaching Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Lynne Twist The Soul of Money Organization The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life by Lynne Twist The Pachamama Alliance Barbara Märx Hubbard The Hunger Project

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The Love of Purpose with Sheryl O’Loughlin of REBBL

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2019 61:51

On today’s Shine podcast, Carley Hauck is joined by Sheryl O’Loughlin, the CEO (aka Chief Love Officer) of REBBL, the first plant-based, super herb adaptogen beverage company. At REBBL, Sheryl leads the development of a new beverage that uses ancient wisdom confirmed by science to help modern-day, busy people adapt to stress. In partnership with Not for Sale, a non-profit dedicated to co-creating a world without human trafficking, REBBL works to create regenerative and just supply chains. In this interview, Sheryl speaks about her love of purpose and how fired up she is about supporting companies to partner together towards committed actions and collaboration for a sustainable world. Key Takeaways: [:04] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:02] Carley introduces Sheryl O’Loughlin, 3-time leader and CEO and co-founder of REBBL. [5:25] Sheryl’s secret to the perfect work life balance came from the advice of her mother-in-law. [10:03] Practicing gratitude, meditating and spending time in nature keeps Sheryl grounded. [14:27] Leading the REBBL team with authenticity starts with modeling love and courage. [21:40] Sheryl’s list of daily love practices. [26:39] Takeaways from Sheryl’s experiences at Expo West. [34:56] A look at trends for the future the industry, and why the world needs to support regenerative business. [39:09] The Climate Collaborative — all that they stand for, support, and are working to change. [50:06] REBBL’s commitment to reducing plastic and promoting sustainability. [56:43] Sheryl’s one piece of wisdom for a new entrepreneur. [59:04] A question to consider — When life gets difficult, what is your recipe for resilience? Resources: Living Well Awake Website Shine- Ignite your inner game at work and in the world by Carley Hauck www.livingwellawake.com/developing-people Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn REBBL Killing It: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart by Sheryl O’Loughlin Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe Natural Products Expo West The Climate Collaborative

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Self Awareness is the First Step Toward Effective Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2019 52:30

On today’s Shine podcast, Carley Hauck is joined by Scott Kriens, chairman and former CEO of Juniper Networks, who founded 1440 Mulitversity with his wife Jonie in 2010. In this interview, Scott speaks to how self awareness supports authentic leadership and aligning with what matters. Scott speaks about being a learner and a builder, committed to finding new ways to tie the world around us to that which is real and powerful within us – whether for the purpose of building teams as a leader in the tech industry or simply as an advocate for the path to living lives of true resonance. Key Takeaways: [:04] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [2:02] Carley introduces Scott Kriens founder of 1440 Multiversity, a whole-self retreat business in California, who shares his motivation for building his company. [8:33] Sustainability is a focus and a passion at 1440, and it shows in the meals they serve their guests. [10:40] Reasons that the practices of well-being and meditation are essential components of being an effective leader. [14:07] Leading the 1440 staff with authenticity starts with the belief that everyone has equal value and meaningful contributions to make. [18:22] Creating a culture of safety and vulnerability starts with the leader of the group, and inviting feedback is a perfect first step to modeling safe vulnerability in leadership. [26:09 Supporting empowerment means delegating tasks and imparting responsibility and respect to all members of your organization. [33:36] For Scott, authenticity requires discovering the ‘self behind the wall’ and honestly identifying areas that can benefit from attention and improvement. [39:42] Cultivating an awareness of ‘what is really real’ and examining the results of being willing to speak the answers out loud. [43:13] What is the call to future leaders to affect positive change in the business in the world? [45:30] A vision for the future of a growing, sustainable, safe-haven company like 1440. [51:11] A call to action — find a pause in your day to unplug and tune in to cultivate greater self awareness. Resources: Living Well Awake Website Shine- Ignite your inner game at work and in the world by Carley Hauck www.livingwellawake.com/developingpeople Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn 1440.org

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Heartfelt Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2019 52:23

In the first Shine podcast, Carley Hauck is joined by Rhea Singhal, founder and CEO of Ecoware, India’s largest sustainable food packaging company. Rhea shares her techniques for caring for herself while managing a growing business with over 100 employees, overcoming the guilt that comes with trying to “have it all”, and the kind and effective ways that she ensures that she is cultivating a workplace that optimizes creativity and productivity. Rhea offers powerful insights into the kind of mindset that supports her heartfelt business mission and commitment to reduce waste and increase mindful consumption in India and around the world. Key Takeaways: [:04] Carley Hauck introduces herself as the founder of Living Well Awake, the new Shine podcast, and her upcoming new book — Shine- Ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work and in the world, available March 2020. [3:00] Carley introduces Rhea Singhal, the founder of Ecoware who shares her inspiration for creating India’s largest sustainable food packaging company. [11:58] Caring for your mind, body, and heart while running a growing business starts with prioritizing self-care time and managing expectations of yourself. [15:58] For Rhea, overcoming the guilt that comes with attempting to balance home and business requires learning to say no and prioritizing the things that matter the most. [19:01] How to tune into what “no” feels like in your body, and then taking the actions to align with that feeling to make your “yes” even more powerful. [24:58] Rhea shares how she has modeled authenticity in order to provide a safe space for her employees to share their ideas and create a better company. [28:57] Indian Railway is one of many companies that endorses Ecoware and provides an example of how having courageous conversations can lead to some of the best clients. [35:18] The three-fold impact that Ecoware aims to have on the world is social, health, and environmental. [40:50] Challenges that Rhea has faced as a female leader while growing her company have been made manageable by knowing that she is doing a right and good thing. [44:58] The ability to keep calm is the inner quality that is helping Rhea have more resilience and step into her ever-growing shoes as a successful business leader. [51:17] A call to action — ask yourself to identify what do you love so much that you are willing to fight for and protect? Resources: Living Well Awake Website Shine- Ignite your inner game at work and in the world by Carley Hauck https://livingwellawake.com/developing-people/ Carley Hauck on Instagram Carley Hauck on LinkedIn Rhea Singhal Website Indposable Podcast

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Explore Difficult Emotions with Carley Hauck

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2018 10:20

This guided meditation offers the opportunity to turn toward your difficult emotions. It can be uncomfortable to manage uncertainty and let go of the need to control but by doing so we can instead find compassion and kindness. Show notes: Meditation by Carley Hauck. Carley Hauck is the founder of Leading from Wholeness, a Bay Area consultancy specializing in leadership, training, and executive coaching. Carley has supported mission driven leaders and companies in tech, finance, and high growth startups, such as: Bank of the West, Linkedin, Pixar, Genentech, Clif Bar, Asana.

People, Profit, and The Planet with Carley Hauck

We're All in This Together

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2018 45:31

My guest on this week’s episode, Carley Hauck, is the founder of Living Well Awake. Her organization blends mindfulness, resilience, and responsible leadership with profitability through executive coaching and well-being consultations. Inspired by the Art of Happiness, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Carley creates a curriculum designed to make others feel safe bringing their authentic selves to work and to inspire them to have a positive impact on the world. She teaches at Stanford, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and has worked with LinkedIn, Pixar, Bank of the West, and others. Key Takeaways: [2:43] What the phrase ‘bring your whole self to work’ means to Carley. [3:29] Carley is a spiritual seeker who found her place in the corporate space. [8:54] Ecological debt and economic debt are connected. [18:09] How Carley links well-being with being profitable within businesses. [31:09] People, profit, and the planet are highlighted in Carley’s forthcoming book, Shine. [42:14] How to get a free gift from Carley. Resources: Purchase Bring Your Whole Self to Work and gain access to bonus material. Mike Robbins Website Mike Robbins Podcast Mike Robbins on Facebook Mike Robbins on Twitter Mike Robbins on Instagram Living Well Awake Living Well Awake on Facebook The Mindful Living Workbook

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Get Up Nation Episode 9 Guest: Carley Hauck, Founder of www.livingwellawake.com

Get Up Nation® Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2018 35:38

Guest: Carley Hauck, Founder of Living Well Awake http://livingwellawake.com/mindfullivingbook/ What Up, Get Up Nation! My name is Ben Biddick. I'm the Host of the Get Up Nation Podcast and Co-Author of Get Up the Art of Perseverance with former Major League Baseball player and CEO of Lurong Living Adam Greenberg. Make sure you pick up a copy of the book if you or someone you know needs to Get Up after being knocked down by life’s challenges. Make sure you check out the podcast website at www.getupnationpodcast.com! Subscribe with your email address so you can connect with us and contribute to the Nation that is built upon serving others, gratitude for the gift of now, and intervening in pain processes to create liberation through consciousness, resilience, and perseverance. It is an honor to share this present moment with you. Comment and reply with where you are joining us--we would love to see and hear who you are, what you’re doing, and what you’re up against! Let’s work together to overcome our challenges and live our finest lives! Episode 9 of the Podcast features Carley Hauck. Carley is the founder of Living Well Awake where she works as the Senior Well Being Architect, an executive life coach, researcher, author, and compassionate change agent with corporate organizations. Carley has been meditating for almost 20 years and believes that mindfulness is the first step toward greater well-being. She teaches on a variety of subjects related to greater happiness, health, and wisdom in work sites such as Bank of the West, LinkedIn, and with her students at Stanford University. Stay tuned for her upcoming book on the topic of Conscious Leadership! www.livingwellawake.com/mindfullivingbook/ www.getupnation.com www.getupnationpodcast.com You Tube: http://bit.ly/2CzePma Facebook: @getupnationpodcast itunes: apple.co/2xZPeih Instagram: bit.ly/2yB8mam Twitter: @getupnationpod Soundcloud: bit.ly/2gNLtXk Stitcher: bit.ly/2yzoklu Overcast: bit.ly/2zry0LS Spreaker: bit.ly/2l4pmR3 Acast: bit.ly/2z1P6AM Buy the book: amzn.to/2rt2lWN --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/get-up-nation-podcast/support

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A 10-Minute Meditation to Work with Difficult Emotions

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Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2017 10:20

A guided mindfulness meditation from meditation teacher Carley Hauck.

A 10-Minute Meditation to Work with Difficult Emotions