Podcast appearances and mentions of judith glaser

managing dare proven bren brown asu new hires resistance to change conversational intelligence certified facilitators judith glaser denise cooper

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2024 36:03

Ever had a new hire leave within months due to team resistance? It's more common than you think. This episode covers:The importance of finding a cultural fit while upgrading team skills.How to handle team pushback when introducing new talent.Proven strategies to respond to feedback and maintain harmony during change.Tune in to discover how to turn team resistance into an opportunity for growth and retention.Denise Cooper and our returning guest, Pamela Richards, CEO Cornerstone Success, delve into a lively discussion about the idea of "fit" when hiring. What does it mean? Is it important? How do you create a million-dollar team with people who don't know and may not like each other? My guess Pamela Richards, is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser.

Harnessing Neuroplasticity (Marisa Murray)

Neuroscience of Coaching

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2024 27:55

Today, we explore the fascinating world of neuroplasticity with guest Marisa Murray, a leadership development expert. We'll unpack the ways this phenomenon plays a crucial role in personal development, which will enrich your understanding of how neuroscience can revolutionize your coaching practice. You'll learn about the brain's ability to change and adapt through experience, practical ways to stimulate this ability, and proven methods to foster meaningful behavior and thought-pattern changes. Join us as Marisa shares her journey from engineering to executive coaching, revealing how her technical mindset deepened her appreciation for neuroscience's role in effective leadership and personal growth. Her approach hinges on stimulating awareness, focus, and practice to foster new neural patterns, guiding clients towards their true potential. In each episode of Neuroscience of Coaching, host Dr. Irena O'Brien explains the science-based insights behind a particular concept and interviews a coach to discuss how these apply in the real world. Just as she does in her professional programs, Irena “un-complicates” neuroscience and teaches practical, evidence-based tools and strategies that listeners can use in their coaching practices. “Reflective inquiry is what coaching is all about. Just helping clients really see the patterns and really build that awareness.” — Marisa Murray Guest Bio: Marisa Murray P. Eng., MBA, PCC is a leadership development expert and the CEO of Leaderley International, an organization dedicated to helping executives become better leaders in today's rapidly changing, highly complex world. Marisa leverages her two-plus decades of executive experience as a former Partner with Accenture and VP at Bell Canada in providing executive coaching, as well as leadership development services for organizations including Molson-Coors, Pratt & Whitney, and Queen's University. She is an author of three Amazon best-selling leadership development books: Work Smart: Your Formula for Unprecedented Professional Success, Iterate! How Turbulent Times Are Changing Leadership and How to Pivot, and Blind Spots: How Great Leaders Uncover Problems and Unlock Performance. She is also co-author of the USA Today bestseller The Younger Self Letters: How Successful Leaders & Entrepreneurs Turned Trials Into Triumph (And How to Use Them to Your Advantage). Marisa is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF). Her certifications include: Erickson's The Art and Science of Coaching, Marshall Goldsmith's Stakeholder Centered Coaching®, Judith Glaser's Conversational Intelligence®, MHS Emotional Intelligence EQi-2.0, Marisa Peer's Rapid Transformational Therapy, The Neuroscience School for Coaches, WBECS Coach Masters Toolkit, and more. She is a professional engineer and alumnus from the University of Waterloo with an MBA from Queen's University. When not working, she can be found spending time with her husband and two sons. She loves traveling, skiing, and sharing her love of learning as she deepens her expertise as a certified yoga, meditation, and wellness practitioner. Host Bio: Dr. Irena O'Brien teaches coaches and care professionals how to achieve better results for their clients through neuroscience. She is the founder of Neuroscience School, which helps practitioners understand and apply insights from cutting-edge neuroscience research. She loves seeing her students gain confidence in their ability to evaluate neuroscience findings and use them successfully in their own practices. Her Certificate Program in Neuroscience is certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for Continuing Coaching Education credit. Dr. O'Brien has studied neuroscience for 25 years and holds a Ph.D. in the field from the Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), where she did brain-imaging studies. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Language, Mind, and Brain at McGill University. Resources mentioned in this episode: Mirasee Dr. Irena O'Brien's website: The Neuroscience School Marisa's website: Leaderley.com Marisa's LinkedIn profile: Linkedin.com/in/murraymarisa Marisa's TEDx Talk Credits: Host: Dr. Irena O'Brien Producer: Cynthia Lamb Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario Executive Producer: Danny Iny Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio Music credits: Track Title: Sneaker Smeaker Artist: Avocado Junkie Writer: Sander Kalmeijer Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION Track Title: Coo Coos Artist: Dresden, The Flamingo Writer: Matthew Wigton Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION Track Title: In This Light Artist: Sounds Like Sander Writer: Sander Kalmeijer Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION Special effects credits: 24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market. To catch the great episodes coming up on Neuroscience of Coaching, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Episode transcript: Harnessing Neuroplasticity (Marisa Murray).

Gerald J. Leonard: From Music to Making a Difference

Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2024 41:33

Unveiling Gerald J. Leonard's journey from music to making a differenceBio:Gerald is the CEO and Founder of the Leonard Productivity Intelligence Institute and the CEO of Turnberry Premiere, a strategic project portfolio management and IT governance firm based in Washington, DC. He attended Central State University in Ohio, receiving a bachelor's in music and later earning a master's in music from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldjleonard/Website: https://productivityintelligenceinstitute.comQuotes:“Once you learn the complexities of things, I think you can implement it with very simple processes.”“Words shape our world.”Episode Highlights:This episode delves into the significance of personal development, reframing negative thoughts, and embracing cultural diversity. Gerald shares insights on overcoming constraints, the power of relationships and the importance of learning from diverse cultural groups.Gerald has authored three books: Culture is the Base, Workplace Jazz, and A Symphony of Choices."Childhood Incidents:From his father's example of building a construction business and his mother working as a seamstress, Gerald knew he had to be industrious. In middle school, Gerald was part of junior achievement where he learned more about business and the monetary value of hard work. Influential Groups: As a child, family shaped a lot of things for Gerald. He saw how hard his father worked to provide for them, how he was there for them and his business. The experience taught Gerald what it was like to be a family man.Gerald grew up Methodist, but after joining college, he learned about other religions. He got a chance to interact with people from different backgrounds and used the scriptures as point of reference to see if he was on the right track. Cultural Influences:Gerald never saw his parents meditate, but he integrated meditation into his life from Indian spiritual practices into his life. He credits a course with Judith Glaser on conversation intelligence for teaching him about the brain and nervous system which he has incorporated into his own behaviour. Personality and Temperament:Gerald believes that he values long term friendships. He has people whom he has known for years, and he goes out of his way to ensure they remain close.In 2018 he lost 86% of his right inner ear capacity and experienced constant vertigo. Although he was six weeks away from giving a TEDX talk, he did everything in his power to heal , incorporating music therapy as part of the process. His resilience and determination paid off and he delivered his TEDX talk on the appointed date and time. Cultural Dissonance:Gerald once worked for a big law firm where the work culture was different from what he was used to . In the Ivy League environment Gerald knew he had to find ways to belong but it felt uncomfortable. He looks at it now as a positive learning experience that taught him new skills.What brings the Best in Gerald Leonard?Gerald has a focus on spending quality time to make a difference in the lives of others. He isn't counting the money made or time spent, rather the impact of the exchange.Soapbox Moment:Gerald invites us to check out his books and podcast from his website. He also encourages us to check out KIVA provide microloans that support people in difficult circumstances to reach their dreams. Support the show

Roberta Fernandez—Can Changing Your Thinking Change Your Life? AHARA Says Yes

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2024 35:14

Hear how to open yourself up to a world of infinite possibilities As you know, I like a fresh lens. That's what we do as anthropologists. We go out and help you see what's all around you, and sometimes you can't see what's right here. Today, I have a wonderful woman, Roberta Fernandez, who's going to help you do the same thing. Together, we're going to help you realize that change is painful in some ways, but an opportunity for you to transform who you are in a great way. A personal and professional development consultant, Roberta takes your full self and helps you look at it a little bit differently. I love the word development. It isn't a coach. It's how do I help you grow? And how do we take a challenge and address it? Listen in to find out. Watch and listen to our conversation here Key takeaways from our conversation: You cannot change a culture until the people in it change. Emotion drives all behavior. We all at some point in our lives should “clean out our closet” — get rid of those limiting beliefs and the stuff that really isn't a part of you, and open the door for that higher self. If we're only focused on the problem, that's all we're going to be able to see. We have to focus on the solution, what we want. The story we tell is the life that we create for ourselves. And it's the life that we get stuck in. We stand in our own way, and what we want to do is to be able to open ourselves to this world of infinite possibilities. Most of our thinking is habitual, just automated. When we become aware of how we think and what we feel as an individual, then we can recognize those things in other people. The reason why we want anything is because we think we're going to feel better when we can have it. So even though we don't know the answer to something, we know how we want to feel when we've accomplished it. If you look at any great artist or scientist or inventor or highly successful person in general, they're going to tell you that changing how they think, how they process, and how they see things differently than anybody else is what has contributed the most to their success. You can connect with Roberta on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and her three websites: Roberta Fernandez/AHARA, Conscious Napping and Conscious Napping For Business. You can also email her at roberta@consciousnapping.com. Want more on how to actually bring about real change? Here's a start: Blog: Okay, Okay, I'm Ready To Change. How Do I Do It? Blog: Three Ways Corporate Anthropology Can Help Your Company Change Podcast: Valerio Pascotto and Amit Raikar—Yes Change Is Painful But It's Necessary! Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our new book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, co-authored by Edie Fraser, Robyn Freedman Spizman and Andi Simon, PhD Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, I'm your host and your guide. And if you come to my podcast, like so many of you do, you know my job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways. And remember, I tell you that because until you see something, it doesn't exist. And if you don't feel it, you don't know how to respond to it. And so my job is to bring you people who, through their stories, will help you think about yourself through a fresh perspective. It's not exactly the right metaphor, but I like a fresh lens. And that's what we do as anthropologists. We go out and help you see what's all around you, and sometimes you can't see what's right here. But today, I have a wonderful woman, and she's going to help you do the same thing. So together, we're going to lift you up and help you realize that change is painful in some ways, but an opportunity for you to transform who you are in a great way. She's smiling. We are very aligned and it's so exciting to meet Roberta Fernandez. I'm going to read her bio a bit as a personal and professional development consultant. It's interesting, when I launched my business, it was as an anthropologist that helps companies and the people inside them change. Not that different, but to be a personal and professional development consultant takes your full self and helps you look at it a little bit differently. She offers programs for individuals and organizations that develop emotional intelligence, EQ, and guides them through a change process to awaken their full potential and realize their higher abilities. She's perfected individual personal development, and that's different from coaching. And I love the word development. It isn't a coach. It's how do I help you grow? And how do we take a challenge and begin to address it? And wellness. And I love self-care and well-being, executive managerial and team corporate training programs, particularly in the area of sustainability, culture change and emotional intelligence. She'll get you more familiar with the sustainability part of her career, but there's a whole package here that comes together with Roberta that you're going to enjoy. She's conducted thousands of individual client sessions, more than 85 noteworthy presentations and trainings over the past 15 years. She's going to talk to you about her new program called AHARA. I'm going to let her tell you about it in just a little bit. It's a sacred term that refers to the support of consciousness, eliminating everything which is not the intrinsic or higher nature of yourself. It's interesting, I was supposed to do a podcast with somebody earlier who was going to talk about something similar in her own discovery. When we got together, she wasn't quite ready to talk about it, but in some ways, we must be facing an interesting moment where we are looking for our higher nature and the world is a very fragile place. And she'll also talk about cleaning your own closet and conscious napping. She's very clever lady. Roberta, thank you for joining me today. Roberta Fernandez: Thanks for having me, Andi. I'm really excited to be here. And I'm excited too, because I think we are such a good fit for each other with how we think. Andi Simon: I think it is, and it's always interesting how we came to think the way we think. Roberta Fernandez: Right it is. It's been a journey. It is. Andi Simon: So let's talk about your journey. This didn't all just drop into the bucket right here. You've had a wonderful life professionally and personally. Share it with us. And that'll set the stage for what the programs are that you're offering today. Please. Who is Roberta? Roberta Fernandez: Well, I think I am a culmination of many, many years, getting into that last third of my life now, which is a pretty exciting time. I've been a serial entrepreneur since my 20s. I've done a lot of different things, but I think the thing that really changed my life, I had founded a Montessori school for 3- to 12-year-olds. So talk about anthropology. Montessori. She was an anthropologist, too, as well as a doctor way ahead of her time. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. And I was sitting in a theater one day and I saw this movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and it just rocked my world, I have to tell you. And so I went home on the website and buried deep with this link, “Apply to be a presenter.” And I thought, okay, I can talk, I know how to talk, right? So I did. I forgot all about it. Probably 5 or 6 weeks later I get a call, it's Al Gore's office, and he invited me to be one of the first 50 people that they were going to train to give this climate talk. Andi Simon: It was, see, I believe in serendipity. Absolutely. Roberta Fernandez: And I was looking for my next stage and I had no idea what it was going to be. And so I went to Nashville. Long story. Mr. Gore trained a thousand people to give that climate talk over probably a six month period. And it was a wonderful grassroots, nonpartisan movement. I learned a lot from it. It opened my world, my look at my world, to a whole new area of sustainability, which was at that time not a very common term. And I ended up working with a company out of Sweden on sustainability, and became a consultant in that field. But what I learned really quickly is there was such resistance to that term, and you can't imagine why. Oh my gosh, you cannot change a culture until the people in it change. I mean, you can fire them, you can get rid of them, which sometimes is the right thing to do. But really you can't delegate the way people think. You can't do that top-down. So I did that for quite a few years, and I did a lot of corporate training for really big companies and universities and even cities. And then I found hypnosis, which really is a whole different way to take my career. But in actuality, it's the same thing. It's just a different tool. With hypnosis, we're looking at changing people's perspectives with the way they think and the way they behave, because emotion drives all behavior. And so the last 12 years of my life, I've been working with individuals, helping them to change. And a few years ago during Covid, Covid changed everything for everybody in some way, I decided I'm in the last third of my life. What's my legacy really going to be? And I decided to take the last 20 years of my experience and roll them into a process that I call AHARA. So there's several things that I do: cleaning out your closet is really getting rid of those limiting beliefs and kind of getting rid of the stuff that really isn't a part of you, and opening the door for that higher self. And then we start the Aha process, which is a year-long program where people learn to change how they think. I was really inspired by Einstein's quote: “I look at the world and all the problems that we have that seem insurmountable and we're not making very good progress with changing some of them.” And he said, “the problems that we have can't be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” And as a hypnotist, I know that what we focus on expands. And if we're only focused on the problem, that's all we're going to be able to see. We have to focus on the solution, what we want. So if we look at that, that is the basis of an aha, and that is exactly what you described: changing how people think, how they feel and then how they behave in the world. Andi Simon: You know, Roberta, I'm an anthropologist. I'm a reader in neurosciences and the cognitive sciences. And, you know, we're remarkable critters. We're meaning-makers. I love the work that begins to show us that we have a story in our mind. And where it comes from is complicated. I've actually done hypnosis, so I'm sort of fascinated with our talk today. But once you have that story in your mind, it becomes your reality. Roberta Fernandez: It does. Andi Simon: And I tell folks, it really is an illusion. There is no reality. The only truth is there's no truth. That's right. And once you have it, though, you look for other people who are part of your tribe, the place you belong with your story that fits their story, and you all reinforce each other's common reality. There's nothing but one story. And so when I get into a corporation or community group that's stuck or stalled and you try to pull them away from that story, the first thing they say is, oh, no, we don't do that. And I laugh and I said, well, that's the problem because you don't see it. You don't see what's right in front of you. And so you're onto something for our conversation today that's extremely important, a little different perspective. But this mind is really powerful at creating something that may or may not be good anymore. So as if you're thinking about the next phase in your own career, I want to hear more about what you're creating and how you're applying it, and why it's working. Roberta Fernandez: Yeah. Thank you for that. And you're absolutely right. The story we tell is, it is the life that we create for ourselves. And it's the life that we get stuck in. And the problem is, that's just me and you. When you're in an organization, you're in a sea of those different perspectives and learning how to navigate all of those perspectives without losing your own identity, without losing your own opinion. And yet respecting and honoring those other perspectives allows us to do something amazing. And that is to create a new story and create a new reality. I think when we look at how stuck people get in their own way of thinking, we stand in our way, and what we want to do is to be able to open ourselves to this world of infinite possibilities. And when we really look at how our mind works and how we function in a traditional environment, we're only really looking at about 25% of what our opportunities are. And so AHARA, at its core, is really teaching people to become aware of their own thinking because, as you know, most of our thinking is habitual. It is just totally not responsive, it's just automated. And so when we become aware of how we think and what we feel as an individual, then you can recognize those things in other people. And the Aha process is designed to teach you how to navigate that sea of perspectives. Andi Simon: Well, you said something very powerful there. The thinking is habitual and what AHARA allows you to do is, I'm not going to say break the habit, but maybe it's part of that. Habits are very powerful and very important. I mean, they make you very efficient. And the problem with breaking them is the brain doesn't really want to work hard on learning something new, even when you're getting educated. You can feel your brain working really hard, trying to figure out what they are saying and how they are telling me to do this. And until you actually do it, it really doesn't exist. And then all of a sudden, you practice and you practice, and you get it. It's a little like learning golf. I was thinking of which metaphor I could use. I'm a 12-year golfer, and I remember having a club and a ball and a book, and I don't know why someone gave me a book to learn to play golf. It was irrelevant because I could read about it. But until I hit the ball, I went, oh, is that what they meant? And then I hit it twice. That was bad because now I could play this game. I can't play the game. It takes a long time to finally get it so that it works. So this is important now when you're helping people through the process. There are multiple levels at which you're working. You want to talk about the differences between the elite and the club and all of this because I think it's important for people to hear that. Roberta Fernandez: Yeah. Thank you. So really, it is one-on-one. So that is a very intensive way to look and learn the AHARA tenets. When I started three years ago, that's the only way I offered it. I would work with a client over six months and we'd meet twice a week. So it was pretty intense. There's some advantage to working one on one in that. It's like immersion and that's always a good thing. And you're focused and you're really into it. So you become acclimated to it pretty quickly, that's not reasonable for a lot of people. And it's also very expensive to do that. So AHARA Club and AHARA Team are the same program. It's just in the delivery that's different. So both programs last a year. We have a couple of group sessions a month, a one-on-one session a month, and a whole slew of other things that go into the program. Team is just within one company. And the advantage there, and this is what I found in my sustainability work, especially the larger companies, they're so siloed. I remember in Target, for example, they had two sustainability divisions. One was architectural and one was in-store and processes. They never talked to each other. And so this idea of having a common language and a common approach and common goals that you set with each other. So a team is just within a company, it might be the leadership team, it might be the advertising team, the sales team, but they're focused on their company's issues. AHARA Club involves people from lots of different backgrounds. So entrepreneurs, leaders, individuals who want to better themselves. And I love that too because you get such a different perspective on how people are applying what they're actually learning. The key to AHARA, I believe, is that everything that we talk about, all these things you and I are talking about, are some of the basic tenets of AHARA. But it's one thing to know them, it's another thing to integrate them as a permanent part of your being, of how you function in life. And so over the course of the year, as the members of the cohorts participate, they have activities that take these tenants and encourage them to use them in real life scenarios. So it really is an integration process. It's not like a coaching program where I'm holding people accountable and coaching them. It really is about changing the way you think, the way you problem solve and and the way you live your life. And that starts individually. So there's a big focus on the self. But once that awareness of how you're thinking of how you're interacting with the world, then how do we incorporate that on a personal and professional level? And that's what it is. Andi Simon: Possible to share an illustrative case with the listener or the viewer to concretize what you're saying because I'm trying to imagine what you're saying, and I am not getting a good imagination on it, and I don't want it to be external from us. This is something that goes inside us and is extremely transformative, if I hear you correctly. Can you give an example? Roberta Fernandez: Yes. So an example would be one of the women that went through AHARA, she was very successful in what she did, but she was bored to tears and she was thinking she needed to change careers, but had no idea what that was. And even though she was very successful in what she did, we found in working together that imposter syndrome was a big part of her life, and even thinking about doing something totally different was just beyond her capability because of a lack of confidence. So first we had to work on those issues. We had to clean out the closet, so to speak, of those limiting beliefs and really look at what was driving those things to begin with so that she could better understand who she was. And once we accomplished that, then it became looking at the specific tenets of AHARA. For example, you mentioned how reality, how your thoughts create your reality, how that reality shapes your life because there is no reality, there's a map, but we all use that map in different ways. We all experience that territory differently. And so looking at where her focus was was really challenging for her because she didn't know what she wanted to do. So we started with having her vision, the solution. And when I talk about problem solving from the solution, what I really mean is the first thing, because she didn't know what the solution was. She didn't know what she wanted, but she knew one thing, and that was how she wanted to feel when she was there. Andi Simon: Love it, love it, love it. Roberta Fernandez: Because here's the thing: the reason why we want anything is because we think we're going to feel better when we can have it. So even though we don't know the answer to something, we know how we want to feel when we've accomplished it. So we started visioning, doing some visioning work with her on how she wanted to feel. And it was really interesting to see how that vision started to work its way backwards. And bottom line, what she found was she didn't want to do anything different. She wanted to do what she was doing differently. It's a huge idea and it made all the difference in the world. And it's so interesting because she's a mortgage broker and that industry has taken a beating lately, and a lot of mortgage brokers don't exist anymore. When I look at her website, when I look at her posts on Facebook and Instagram and social media, I see AHARA all over it and she's still actually attracting people that think like she does because her whole thing was in her company, she built a company, but she had not built a family, and that was super important for her. When she first started implementing AHARA, it was very much in her family, juggling her kids and her husband and all their responsibilities. And then that started integrating very much with her as a person, as a business person, and gave her a gift. Andi Simon: You gave her a gift, didn't you? Roberta Fernandez: Well, she gave it to herself. I have a process that helps you discover your own answers. And I think that is really essential for all of us. Andi Simon: I have a leadership academy, I have several, and I've been doing them for several years. And I love taking emerging leaders, once a month, beginning to get them to see themselves as no longer those managers, but as leaders. What do those words mean? I often say that the words create the worlds we live in, and if you're going to go from manager to leader, something has to stop and something has to start. You can't just add more on. Yeah, well, the first session and it's coming up, I asked them to draw pictures and tell us stories about themselves today. And then I asked them to visualize what it is they would like to see themselves become. Tell us a story about that, because I got to start them to see, feel and think about themselves through the story in their mind. And what you're telling us, it's a different approach, but very much the same. If I can't see it, I can't ever become it. And then we try to backward plan, small wins to begin to move ourselves closer to that. The vision changes, you know, as life gets in the way of where I want to be. It actually takes you in better places, because you can begin to see it as part of this complex thing that you're crafting. Roberta Fernandez: Absolutely. And I think when you look at, and this is the value that I have gotten from being a hypnotist for 12 years, the imagination, the subconscious mind, which is home to the imagination, home to your emotions, home to your rules about life and how you think. What created you as a person when you can tap into that? I always tell people, everybody came to me as a hypnotist for one reason and one reason only, and they would be dumbfounded by that. They would say, well, how will you deal with all these people with all these different problems? And I would say that's only the symptom. The reason why people would come to see me is that there was a disconnect between what they consciously wanted and what their subconscious mind believed was possible. And inside of you, the one thing that I am absolutely sure inside of each one of us are the answers. We just can't connect to them. And that's the bridge that I played as a hypnotist. And I learned so much about human behavior and how the mind works and how really simple those answers are. Once you can get clear. Andi Simon: Pretty, pretty cool stuff, huh? Roberta Fernandez: It is. Yeah. Andi Simon: So now, how are you building? This is a new line of business for you. As if it's not quite a startup, but it is the next step in it. Roberta Fernandez: You know, it's new and it's old because this is really the same work that I did in the corporate sector. I just did it on larger scales, right? I would have large training sessions and that kind of thing. So AHARA, any of the group ones are 12, we limit it to 12, 8-12 people at the most, but still more than one-on-one, because I also realize when we're looking at it professionally, having a variety of opinions and ways of applying what you're learning is so very important because people ask questions that I never would have thought of. And that's a learning experience for me. So I love the idea of working in small groups, but it really is the same thing I was doing before. I'm just packaging what I've learned from several careers, actually, and putting it all into one tool, if that makes sense. Andi Simon: I think that's wonderful. So it's not a startup, it's a restart instead of branding. It's a rebranding. But it is your skills, well-honed in your expertise and experience. This is not an imposter syndrome stuff. This is a woman who has had a great experience listeners might benefit by and do it in a very different way. I can't tell you how many times I became an executive coach. I don't sell it, but often my clients need it. And so I go from consulting into coaching, mostly to become a listener and to help them get some perspective, but it's amazing to me how without that, people have a hard time thinking. They have a hard time doing and they need to somehow, I won't say the word vent, but to express the dilemmas that they're facing. And often it's well beyond what you ever could have imagined and sort of like, I've had some clients and they've had family issues, and we get on a phone call or a Zoom for a business conversation. We never get to the business, the whole people and the combination of home and work sometimes just need a hand, you know? Let's see if we can help you rethink what you're doing and move forward some way, right? Roberta Fernandez: Yeah. You know, I remember when I was young, there was the attitude of, you have to leave your problems at the door when you get to work. And no, that was a thing, right? You're right. Andi Simon: I am the same age. It was exactly. Absolutely. Roberta Fernandez: And it's impossible. It's like saying you can separate the body from the mind and the spirit. You can't. We are a whole package deal. And how we are personally definitely impacts who we are professionally. And we tend to think of ourselves as a different person when we walk in that door. And that is not the truth. It is not the truth. And what is really cool is when we realize that and we can learn how to integrate these processes as part of who we are, we become more efficient in both our personal and professional life. And so when I was rebranding myself as not just a consultant, I really was specific and intentional in saying a personal and professional development consultant because they're inextricably connected. Andi Simon: And if you can structure a process for yourself of moving between roles, I often tell my clients that life is like theater. You don't see it that way, but it's just another metaphor. And in each place you are, you're playing a role, sometimes well-honed, in others not. But I used to find that when I came home from business and my two kids were there waiting for time, I'd say to them, mom has to take a shower first. And I took the shower, I sat on the floor outside the shower, and I took the shower as a quiet downtime to move from business to mom. And then I came out as a mom, and I vividly remember saying to myself, this is very healthy for them and for you because as you walk through the door, you're still there and now you have to come here. The mom and I never quite tried to master that, but I remember having to because it was intense, both the business side and the mom side and being a professional person, you know, it was always managing a blended life. You had to figure out how one person could keep shifting rolls. And I remember we had one party for one client and it was on my birthday. My daughter came with me, and it was with great pride that I showed her off and brought her in. It was okay. So I think that these were complicated critters, and I do think it's time that more people need them. Roberta Fernandez: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. So I think I agree with everything that you're saying, Andi. And I think if the audience can really take something away from this is that, really exploring, you mentioned that you're a neuroscientist. My daughter is a neuroscientist as well. And we have very interesting discussions as a hypnotist and a neuroscientist together about how the brain works. It's really important to understand that; you mentioned earlier the brain has to be efficient. And so the majority of things that we do day in and day out are just habits. It's something, and our thoughts too, just thoughts. We keep thinking over and over again but change is possible because it just is. And the way it's possible is by becoming aware of how we think. And when I look at the acronym of AHARA, A Higher Awareness leads us to Realize our Abilities, because we cannot fully realize our potential and reach that potential until we are aware of who we are, how we think, and how we navigate this world. And once we can tap into that, then the sky is absolutely the limit. Andi Simon: You almost answered my question, which was, Roberta, tell the listener one or 2 or 3 things you don't want them to forget. That sounded like the one. Roberta Fernandez: Oh, it's one. Andi Simon: Yes it is. You know, because we're about ready to wrap up. Is there a 2 or 3 you can add to that, or shall we just end on that note? Roberta Fernandez: I think here's how I'd like to end it. If you look at any great artist or scientist or inventor or just a highly successful person in general, they're going to tell you that changing how they think, how they process, and how they see things differently than anybody else is what has contributed the most to their success. Andi Simon: Good. So now we have a great podcast to share that you can change. It is painful. The amygdala really hijacks most new ideas. The habits make you efficient, but not necessarily productive. I love the story of the woman who wanted to stay and do what she did, but do it differently to add real value to herself and others. And change is painful. But it happens. And I also love the fact that when you're understanding that the words we use create the worlds we live in, sometimes we have to shed some ideas deliberately. And I like the idea of doing it in groups of 8 or 10, so you can help each other stay on course and not fall back. Because sometimes we fall back, even though we really don't want to. We don't even see ourselves. It's just the old habits rising to the surface. Oh, we're complicated humans. God, if only it were easy but there's progress. Now, remember, Judith Glaser does great work with conversational intelligence, and her stuff about the brain literally changes when you hear stories like we're telling. So just so you know, listeners, you listen and your brain is adapting to what you're hearing. Your story is changing, and there's actually DNA that's gone through a transformation there. Maybe. But I love the idea that this is casual and outside of us, but comes inside of us and begins to be transformative, like your work. So absolutely, I'm going to say it's time to wrap. I always love our podcasts. This is a great one. I'm so glad you came to me. I don't know where, serendipity and there you are, but it's been a great conversation about things that I sort of knew, but I didn't know a lot about for our audience. Thank you for coming. It's always a pleasure to help you see, feel and think in new ways. Remember my new book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success is on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and elsewhere, and I think that it's a time for us to begin to understand how change is possible, and we should be changing. The joy of writing this book is that 102 women want to share their wisdom with others so you can thrive in business as well. And that is a very big change. When you read those stories and look at their wisdoms, you go, oh my gosh, that's a great point. I can do that. Not the least of which is serendipity is a great way to start the day, and we have been serendipitously happy today. Goodbye my friends. Thanks. Send us your emails at info@Andisimon.com and we will bring more great people onto the show. Goodbye again. Bye bye. Have a great day. Thanks, Roberta. Roberta Fernandez: Thank you. WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS® is a registered trademark of the National Association of Women Business Owners® (NAWBO)

Team Rhythm - Eleven Ways to Lead your Team from overwhelmed to inspired with Iris Clermont

The Game of Teams

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2024 44:53

Introduction: Iris Clermont is an Executive Coach, author, and professional mathematician. She holds certifications from Team Coaching International, & Conversational Intelligence and is a Professional Certified Coach from the International Coaching Federation. Her mission is to motivate teams to work effectively while having fun and gaining energy from their business life. Iris is also the author of the number one best-selling book Team Magic and has just written her new book Team Rhythm which is the subject of this podcast. Podcast episode Summary: Iris has chosen a xylophone as an image and metaphor to capture the chapters of her book. The conversation explores her Team Model the ordering of her chapters on this xylophone and why music and maths support her work with teams. Points made throughout the Episode: Who are you? Deep inside Iris is a mission to inspire teams to have more joy and energy in the workplace. Iris then goes on to share her career history and the early influence of Mother Teresa. After approximately 30 years in Corporate life Iris found herself moving “swiftly and smartly” into Coaching. She figured out that asking people for their ideas instead of telling them her ideas changed the game for her. Is it true you are also a Musician? Iris has played music since she was 3 years old and her interest in music form part of the auspices of Team Rhythm. What inspired you to write the book the way you did? Iris determined that many of the teams she was facing were in egoic conflict and were very serious. She was intent on approaching the solution to team rhythm in a different way using exercises and lightness in her approach. Iris saw that business leaders know what they need in business and what they do not practice like listening and presence. According to Iris teams need to not only speak their concerns but use exercises and lightness as a way to find solutions – As such her book is littered with music riffs and exercises that teams can employ to begin to develop skills As a child Iris listened to a talk given by Mother Teresa that she still carries. Emotional pain is a feature of business life and one Iris's mission is to help people resolve emotional pain. She develops bespoke exercises for teams depending on their particular concern. Why was it important to cluster the book chapters on a xylophone and in that fashion? – Getting Synchronised comprises the first three chapters of the book and details the power of Listening, Creating a Clear vision and having Leadership Presence. Getting synched means looking beyond an individual's ego and determining what is important to the team . Getting synched means raising a person's listening skills, followed by a clear strategy & vision – this also requires checking for team and departmental understanding giving others a chance to question. Iris uses cartoons to illustrate her points. She points out that the Leader is there to serve and give direction. Finally Irish explains why her third chapter on Presence is so critical for team life. – What in your opinion Iris do teams forget about those first three chapters? All three of them. Iris reminds us that we all think we are great listeners but when she encourages her teams to try out some of the listening exercises in her book, members realise they are not that good. Leaders are often pretty clear in their heads about the future strategy but do they check it is understood by all? Do they gain from the experts knowledge how they see the strategy working etc. Presence in the room is often disrupted by insecurity & Iris's exercises help bring presence more assuredly into the room Presence can change something. A lack of presence, often especially by the leader can communicate to others that the leader has more important things to do than be there for the team. – What are some of the exercises you use with teams to build presence? Speaking to the last member in an audience as a choir is an exercise that iris uses with teams, – What comprises the cluster called raising awareness? There are four topics covered across four chapters with skills that all have room to be enhanced. – Raising effectiveness with Decisions. Decision making at the lowest level. Iris employs exercises to expand on Frederic Laloux's work which says that bureaucracy gets in the way of effective decision making. He and Iris suggest moving decisions out and often down to the experts. This requires trust by Leaders to distribute power effectively to experts. Doing this is enabled by having done the work to get synchronised. A solid frame is provided that supports decision making. Trust is a big component for both the leader and the member. A leader can self-check to be curious if he/she does give power to the expert or has explained the strategy well. A member can ask if they trust themselves enough to honour the strategy and make a decision about which they are expert. – Speed up Conflict Resolution: The blue note is used from Jazz as a way of helping teams to accept what might not be linear or clear from which beauty can surface. There is disruption on teams especially with diverse teams and Iris encourages teams to embrace the disruption and look to wonder what can be created. Iris explores building resolution on teams using Judith Glaser's work, Conversational Intelligence. Iris explains the dashboard that Judith outlined in her book to support understanding between members on teams. The Conversational dashboard describes 3 levels of communication from distrust to trust. Level 1 is where people tell and ask. Level 2 is where team members advocate and inquire and Level 3 where two or more members are co-creating in a space of trust by sharing and discovering together. Team members have to suspend judgement and premature conclusions to accept that people have good intentions, have value to add and are not stupid. This helps move conversations from red/distrusting to green/trusting. Iris shares that the dashboard is an image or a picture in your home that you have to step back from and observe. Stepping back and inquiring helps a team wonder how they can move into the green area where engagement, encouragement, acceptance flourishes, a place of fun and creativity. Iris loves this chapter and since her work with Judith Glaser she only needs 30 minutes to bring this topic to light & resolution. The team conflict resolution team rhythm exercise helps a team see how they react to dissonance. The exercise is used to see how teams react, what is possible and what is learnt by dissonance and the use of it. Disruption is not always a negative phenomenon it allows for difference to be heard. Trust & Commitment, chapters 6 & 7 in Iris's book are like twins. If commitment is honoured trust is built. Similarly alignment with the mission and strategy supports trust. Trust also has something to do with each individual and their respective histories. A person has to be willing to look inside and wonder what is blocking with respect to trust and trust for others., There is a team rhythm exercise on trust. The cartoons Iris employs in her book helps people self-assess and wonder about their own levels of trust. Micro-managing for example is an indicator that trust is not widely given to empower teams. – What are some of the ways teams distract themselves from pursuing some of these ideas on effectiveness? Iris combines the knowledge and wisdom from her Commitment chapter with the chapter on Feedforward to suggest that team members need to be willing to open up to feedforward ideas – Continuously Empower and Inspire your Teams. This cluster explores 4 topics housed in 4 chapters. The first speaks to the idea that you can add value to a team and its performance by engaging with mechanism and skills that encourage feedforward practices. The next chapter explores the nature of Virtual & Hybrid teams and how teams can move from being I-Centric to We-Centric and ultimately less egoic. The third chapter in this cluster speaks to value of using the power of diversity and moving away from blaming and shaming others for their difference be it with respect to their ideas, perspectives etc to gaining. This chapter uses exercises and rhythm exercises to identify how to make use of the full spectrum of diversity. The fourth and final chapter in this cluster speaks to the idea of gaining from areas outside of your own business. In this Iris talks about Bands and what can be learnt for business gain. She also looks at film production and what is involved there in that domain a rich resource for business. – What is important to you Iris about the difference between Feedforward and Feedback? The difference was experienced from Marshall Goldsmith. Feedforward is looking to the future and is hopeful. Feedback is backward looking and historic. – The last few chapters are very current to the world we live, especially post the pandemic. What was important to you about including them in your book and on the xylophone? Iris wanted to update her book to reflect what she is seeing in business today, that is very different from when she wrote her book Team Magic. Iris is curious to explore with teams how they can gain by diversity. Iris tells a story about her favourite team a virtual team she was part of twenty years ago. Iris describes how she experienced this team and remarks that she felt special having team members come from Denmark and other counties. Iris shares that it was a hugely different phenomenon in her working life then & she enjoyed it, The team worked well together and won a prize for innovation. – How comfortable are teams working in a hybrid or virtual way? Teams can get stuck in ways that are unhelpful. There are different types of people some who appreciate the technology that allows for video and others who prefer to be more private and not share their image. Some people like to see faces to focus on gestures and mimics and others are more focused on words. We have to allow for both. – To practice for example on a band is so important, what do teams assume that they do not practice together? Teams often only focus on achieving results and forget the process necessary to get there. To be really effective as a team you need to have the skills outlined on Iris, xylophone listening, having a vision & strategy, leadership presence, decision making, conflict resolution, Trust, commitment, Feedforward skills, awareness of virtual and hybrid teams, making full use of diversity and gaining from the lessons learnt from the outside world. Iris understands why teams often take the shortest route to success. As a mathematician that is smart & it can also frustrate when you appreciate that others are different. It then becomes necessary to upgrade these skills in order to co-create and deliver collectively. There is a parallel here with musicians. As a musician you know you need to work alone and then together. – What are your thoughts about joy and how you infuse it across teams? Joy is linked to creativity and innovation. It also means looking at where I am stuck and what needs to shift. It is key to look outside of business and to gain from all of the experience we have from other domains. – What makes you proud about this book? This book comes from deep within Iris's heart to enlighten teams about what is possible. To bring lightness to the business of what is often serious business. Using cartoons, exercises and several rhythm practices can allow a team see an alternative perspective & explore their effectiveness with fun. Iris is proud of all of her 3 sons who contributed to her book and one of her sons, a musician co-created with Iris to get specific rhythm exercises. Resources shared across this podcast – Team Rhythm, Eleven ways to lead your team from overwhelmed to inspired. Iris Clermont – Team Magic eleven ways for winning teams – Conversational Intelligence, Judith E. Glaser – Feedforward by Marshall Goldsmith -U Tube. – www.aircoaching.com

How To Be A Better Leader In A Rapidly Changing World with Marisa Murray

The Leaders Lab

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2024 45:07

So excited to bring you this week's episode discussing a topic that is near and dear to me and what we stand for in The Leaders Lab - and that is all about leadership, specifically leadership development. My guest this week who will help deliver that is an expert in leadership development and has helped executives from all over become better leaders in their ever-evolving and complex environments.In this interview, we talk about:- Leadership development, and the scaling responsibilities of a leader- Adapting to rapid change and finding direction in an unpredictable environment- Corporate culture and leadership limitations- Executive coaching and business development- Building a business through marketing and coaching- Leadership blind spots- And more!ABOUT OUR GUESTMarisa Murray P. Eng., MBA, PCC is a leadership development expert and the CEO of Leaderley International, an organization dedicated to helping executives become better leaders in today's rapidly changing, highly complex world.Marisa leverages her over two decades of executive experience as a former Partner with Accenture and VP at Bell Canada in providing executive coaching, and leadership development services for organizations including Molson-Coors, Pratt & Whitney and Queen's University.She is the author of three Amazon Best Selling leadership development books:• Work Smart: Your Formula for Unprecedented Professional Success• Iterate! How Turbulent Times Are Changing Leadership and How to Pivot• Blind Spots: How Great Leaders Uncover Problems and Unlock PerformanceMarisa is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF). Her certifications include Erickson's The Art and Science of Coaching, Marshall Goldsmith's Stakeholder Centered Coaching®, and Judith Glaser's Conversational Intelligence®, and more.When not working, she spends time with her husband and two sons. She loves traveling, skiing and sharing her love of learning as she deepens her expertise as a certified yoga, meditation, and wellness practitioner.You can learn more about Marisa and her work here: www.leaderley.comABOUT OUR HOSTKen Eslick is an Entrepreneur, Author, Podcaster, Tony Robbins Trainer, Life Coach, Husband of 35+ Years, and Grandfather. Ken currently spends his time as the President & Founder of The Leaders Lab where he and his team focus on Senior Leadership Acquisition. They get founders the next level C-Suite Leaders they need to go from being an Inc. Magazine 5000 fastest growing company to $100,000,000 + in revenue. You can learn more about Ken and his team at theleaderslab.coListen to more episodes on Mission Matters:https://missionmatters.com/author/ken-eslick/

Strategic Innovation: Transforming Guesswork into a Game Plan with Pamela Brooks Richards (Ep 150)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2023 39:08

Are you wondering how to move your business from strategic guessing to strategic innovation? If so, this episode of our podcast might just be the one you've been waiting for. Our host, Denise Cooper, is joined by none other than Pamela Brooks Richards. As an executive coach with an undying passion for facilitating positive change, Pam has a wealth of knowledge to share with us today on the pivotal topic of strategic innovationThis episode's discussion takes a deep dive into the heart of strategic innovation and how it not only pertains to business but also our personal lives. Pamela Brooks Richards points out the inherent tension and potential conflict in this process. She emphasizes the need to think out of the box, to step out of our bubble, to see things in broader strokes before narrowing down to specifics. This, she says, helps us get out of our own way, view things from a fresh perspective, and prevent ourselves from prematurely discarding ideas that could lead to innovation.So, if you've been seeking insights into the connection between strategic capacity and meeting organizational goals, then this episode is a must-listen for you.THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWNo one has a crystal ball - how can people leverage their skills to meet their personal and professional goals? [05:29]How can you check yourself to see if you're practicing convergent thinking?[12:11]How can we use micro-behaviors to influence change in your organization?[27:25]KEEP UP WITH PAM BROOKS RICHARDShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccess/EPISODE RESOURCESVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or reviewGUEST PAMELA BROOKS RICHARDSPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser.Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of people to create workshops and experiences that can create transformational performance breakthroughs for both individuals and teams. She loves all the work coming out of neuroscience today and what actually leads to better performers and what helps us enjoy life to the fullest.She has presented to large groups,...

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Decision-Making Under a Lens: Pam Brooks Richards Explores the Value-Driven Approach (Ep. 148)

conversational intelligence judith glaser

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2023 39:55

Are you intrigued by how personal and professional values intertwine and shape your actions? Then join Denise Cooper in this engaging episode as she chats with Pam Brooks Richards, a seasoned executive coach and expert in both personal and professional development.Denise and Pam examine the profound influence of aligning personal values with organizational ones, and how this alignment can translate into enhanced customer satisfaction. Pam emphasizes that workplace procedures should not be rigid constraints but rather guiding principles, inspiring employees to adapt and apply their own thinking. Brooks-Richards delves into the concept of 'brave spaces', a platform where employees can express their views and venture beyond the norm without fear of backlash, fostering a culture of innovation and creativity within the organization. The discussion takes a deeper turn towards psychological safety and the role of forgiveness in crafting a positive work environment. Pam underlines the necessity of clear boundaries, structured processes, and ongoing discussions surrounding workplace values. A homogeneous team can lead to an 'echo chamber' effect, stifling the birth of innovative ideas.So, if you've been seeking insights into the connection between personal and organizational values, or aiming to establish a psychologically secure environment within your workplace, then this episode is a must-listen for you.THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhy is it so important that leaders have their values figured out? [03:11]How do people chart out their values?[09:11]75-80% of people are unaware of their own values. How do we change that?[26:06]KEEP UP WITH PAM BROOKS RICHARDShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccess/EPISODE RESOURCESVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or reviewGUEST PAMELA BROOKS RICHARDSPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser.Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of people to create workshops and experiences that can create...

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Book Review: Conversational Intelligence

50% with Marcylle Combs

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2023 5:32

In this episode Deantha and Maryclle discuss the book, Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results by Judith Glaser. To see book recommendations by 50% podcast guests, go to www.marcyllecombs.com

The Science of Employee Motivation with Pamela Brooks Richard (Ep 135)

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2023 43:35

How do you show your teammates recognition?In this insightful episode, host Denise Cooper is joined by Pamela Brooks Richards, an expert on change management. In this interview, Brooks-Richards gives us a deep dive look into the role that employee recognition plays in sustaining motivation over time. Pamela also shares her thoughts on the importance of celebration in overcoming challenges in our professional lives and how recognition and rewards play a crucial role in fostering a positive work environment.When an organization invests in celebrating its employees and recognizing their accomplishments, it fosters a positive work environment, which can lead to increased employee satisfaction, productivity, and loyalty. Pamela shares examples of how even small acts of recognition and appreciation can have a significant impact on employee morale and overall organizational success.Join us for this enlightening discussion with Pamela Brooks Richards and learn how to harness the power of celebration and recognition to overcome challenges and create a thriving professional life.THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat is the difference between recognition and rewards? [03:19]How do we show our team members that they are valued? [06:10]How do the 5 languages of appreciation show up in the ways that we show up for our employees? [10:56] [17:30]What are the benefits of co-regulating with our team members? [21:55]What are the benefits of tying positive behaviors to negative emotions? [34:29]KEEP UP WITH PAMELA BROOKS-RICHARDShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccessEPISODE RESOURCESJoin the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Community NowVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or reviewPAMELA BROOKS-RICHARDS BIOPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser. Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of...

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Small Moments Matter: How Consistency Builds Trust with Pamela Brooks Richards (Ep. 131)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2023 47:24

What is trust? What factors make up trust? What factors make others feel trust towards us and vice versa? When the trust factor goes up, the work gets done. But how can we move towards building it authentically during times where people are more politically divided than ever before?In this week's episode, Denise Cooper interviews Pamela Brooks-Richards for her take on how we can build genuine trust in the face of change. It can feel extremely uncomfortable to say "no" to our bosses or other authority figures in our working life. What do we do when the noise in our head tells us we can't "be bad", and our nervous system gets activated in challenging work situations? Trust is not only about telling the truth and keeping promises, but it is also about being accountable and restoring trust when it is broken. Building authentic trust in the workplace takes time and effort. It requires accountability, restoration, and confidentiality. Trust is built and destroyed in small moments, so it is essential to be consistent in actions and responses.Accountability is not about micromanaging someone or holding them responsible for everything. It is about taking responsibility for your actions and admitting when you have made a mistake. If you've been looking for ways to build accountability through fostering a trusting work environment, this is the episode for you. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat is trust? [3:34]What happens when we don't have trusting, safe spaces at work? [09:03]What role do values play in managing dissonance? [24:25]How do we overcome learned helplessness in the workplace? [36:55]KEEP UP WITH PAMELA BROOKS RICHARDShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccessEPISODE RESOURCESJoin the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Community NowVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or reviewGUEST BIOPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser. Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and...

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Julia Wolfendale—How Many Ways Should You Focus To Find Your Path Forward?

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2023 33:37

Hear how to rethink your life to find what really makes you happy Today's guest is Julia Wolfendale, executive coach and director at On The Up Consulting. Julia is from the UK and has developed an exciting and valuable approach to helping people find happiness, success and fulfillment. Her book is entitled Five Ways to Focus and we discuss it as a starting point to help people better understand themselves. Julia has a master's in leadership and has trained and coached hundreds of leaders on understanding themselves and improving their daily lives. You are going to find our discussion itself very interesting. Do please tune in! Watch and listen to our conversation here The five ways to focus These are significant to understand, and they follow other research which we use at SAMC to help our clients understand why focus is essential to their success. The five forces are freedom, money, recognition, fellowship and fulfillment. As you listen to Julia, you're going to ask yourself, Am I the person I would like to be? Or do I need to take stock of where I am and consider where I'm going? At Simon Associates, we have developed a program that's entirely complementary to Julia's approach. Take a look at it at www.rethinkwithandisimon.com. It's all about trying to discover how can we change our story to find the kind of person that we want to be? And so much of this has to do with how the mind works to keep you comfortable and confident that where you are now is the best place for you. To connect with Julia, you'll find her on LinkedIn, Twitter and her website On The Up Consulting, or email her: julia@ontheupconsulting.com. Ready to examine what really motivates you and makes you happy? Start here: Blog: You Can Find Joy And Happiness In Turbulent Times! Podcast: Meg Nocero—Can You Feel Joy As You Rethink Your Life? Podcast: Richard Sheridan—How To Lead With Joy And Purpose! Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. I'm your host and your guide. My job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways so you can get off the brink. And I'm always delighted to find people who are going to help you do just that. You know, I'm a corporate anthropologist. I'm a business owner and entrepreneur. I coach lots of folks. But I've learned over the years that new ideas come to you from different places in different ways. And somehow you'll hear something, and you'll go, oh, that's what Andi's been saying. But here's somebody else who said it and all of a sudden it clicked, and it helps me do something I've been trying to do. So I have with me today a wonderful woman from England. And if you've been listening, we've had somebody from Paris, and somebody from South Africa. The world is coming to us and we're sharing great ideas. Julia Wolfendale is a terrific individual for you to listen to. Let me tell you about her and then she'll tell you about her own journey. She's an executive coach and director at On The Up Consulting. What a great name! She's the author of a new book called Five Ways to Focus. And she's qualified to the master's level in leadership. She has trained and coached hundreds of leaders on how to have the best sales and get things on the up. She had previous roles as a marketing director for a large global company and also worked in large public sector companies. She's developed an innovative set of tools, training courses and programs to transform, and I say this is a very important thing, to transform conversations at work. We've had other podcast guests who talked about conversations, and Judith Glaser has that wonderful book called Conversational Intelligence that I use in all my leadership academies. But we live conversations. And those are the crux of who we are and how we interact. She now specializes in strength-based coaching and writing, helping organizations get the best out of their people with coaching conversations. So this is going to be such fun. And she also wrote another book called The Trouble with Elephants that she started when she was 12. And so there's a story behind that story I'm sure. Julia, thank you for joining me today. Julia Wolfendale: Hi, it's great to see you, Andrea, thank you for having me. Andi Simon: Julia, I gave them the overview of your bio, but I know your story is a rich and very important one for them to understand why as an executive coach and a trainer, you've moved into this whole area of improving conversations, but building better places to be and also to find them fulfillment and happiness. Who is Julia? Let's understand who you are so they can understand why this matters so much, please. Julia Wolfendale: Oh, thank you, Andrea. So I guess my work career really started out when I got a Business Studies degree and went to work for Adidas, the sports clothing brand, and really being part of a big corporate setup really interested me. And then I was fortunate enough to move on and become a marketing director at Helly Hansen, again, a global sports brand. And having that opportunity to see different cultures, different people in different cultures of the organization, and in different countries in the organization sort of coming together and sharing ideas, that was always something that really interested me. But particularly, I guess I've always been interested in what motivates people, what gets them to do the amazing things, and working with sports brands was really interesting because being able to see people perform at their best, use their body in the most incredible ways to compete and to perform and to really challenge themselves. But from a marketing point of view, I was interested in how do you get people to think differently about what they're capable of. So I suppose there was always something in me that led me to now, which is this coaching. So really recognizing that we are capable of so much more. And sometimes we have to challenge our situations, our environments, and ourselves, to make some changes to think differently and to find ways that we can be at our best. So that's taken me many years to kind of come to this point now where I can say I have a successful coaching consultancy. I'm coaching leaders. Throughout the week, people have really important jobs and CEOs of hospitals and working with public sector organizations where people have really tough jobs and helping them in their professional lives, and thinking about how they can be at their best, but I also train in organizations and help them develop their leaders by having chats that matter. And that's our signature program, which is about changing the way they have conversations with their people using a coaching style of recognizing people's strengths, really unlocking that potential, and tapping into people's passions and what they care about so that they can be motivated and successful, happy and fulfilled at work. And I guess that's what so many of us care about. But perhaps we don't always have the ways to do that. And I suppose that's why I wrote the book, because sometimes having the chance to focus on the stuff that matters to us and recognize what we're capable of is kind of the first step towards that. So the book, Five Ways to Focus, is around dealing with all the other stuff we could be doing. We end up getting involved in all the other things that we're thinking about, and actually just getting it down to really what matters to you. What changes are you ready and able to make? And what difference will that make for you, if you did? Andi Simon: You know, it's interesting, because I have several leadership academies for corporations. And we're actually at a point where we're talking about understanding that leaders must focus on themselves on one hand, and on empathy on the other, and then the third on the environment around which they are operating. And I often worry that there are too many things to focus on. And we're preaching a methodology of getting to understand what matters at the moment. I am so interested in what you have learned. Talk to us more about when you say the word focus in on conversations, intelligent conversations, give us a little bit more flesh to this so that I think our listeners and viewers can all sort of grab what is it you've discovered. Julia Wolfendale: Well, I think it's around cutting through the noise and the distraction. So sometimes the little distractions get in the way of us getting on with the work that needs to be done, or the plans that we need to make. But I think there's also the kind of the internal noise as well. There's the self-limiting beliefs that show up the things that we give too much attention to really, and believing when actually we perhaps could look at them, listen to them differently, challenge them, question ourselves. I think being able to focus on some of the things that are physically and literally in our way, but also what are the things that we've kind of manifested in our own minds that we believe to be our obstacles, but we've had them for so long that they've become things that we don't even imagine not having that or don't even imagine overcoming. So the book really helps break down and is focused around what matters much. So really getting someone to understand, what are they really looking for? And if they are thinking about a career change, really helping them understand and assess their life right now. What's working well, in all aspects of their lives. And what do they want to have more of? What do they need less of? You know, why they value the things that they give so much time and attention to? Or do they value the time? And do they value those things or if they just took over? And so helping people sort of reassess their lives and their work included in that. And help them think about what do they want to learn? What do they want to be able to be or be able to do? And then also helping them think about the things that are really driving them. So what are they looking for, by way of a change, and if it is a career change, there might be things that matter to them that they have lost sight of? So I do find that when I'm coaching with people, when I ask them questions around some of the one of the five ways to focus is, what are you really looking for, and it's based around freedom, fellowship, fulfillment, kudasai, and money and getting people to rank those in order. So if freedom is a big one, it might be because it might be their first thing, and they realize they don't have enough of that now. And that's what they really do want to focus on. So I'll ask them about, what does freedom mean to you? And it might mean they've got more freedom to make decisions, so more autonomy. It might mean freedom in the sense of being able to have a better flexible working schedule and then they will come to fellowship and it might mean that fellowship is something that is important to them, and having a sense of belonging. Great connections with people at work really matters. And, they may not have that now and people are suffering from that, aren't they, because of the hybrid working environment and so long remote working, that sense of fellowship might really matter to somebody, but they kind of lost it or forgotten about that. So help them understand what does fellowship mean to them? And if they're looking for it, what would it be? How could it be represented at work, so that it might be about moving into a new team, or joining a new organization where they really share the same values and they feel really connected. And so they belong and that's a strong driver for people's sense of belonging. Or it might be fulfilling. And I think too often we forget to think about what makes us feel good about work. Work can take up a lot of our lives, but it can be so much more enjoyable when there's a sense of purpose and a sense of personal reward, as well as you might be serving others and that might be enough. So where does that fulfillment come from? And what does that look like, and really getting people to recognize that. I'm feeling unfulfilled at work and that's the thing that I want to prioritize. That's something I want to focus on. And that's such a lightbulb moment when people realize that something is missing. But that's not the thing that's ever in a job description, or ever advertised. You don't apply for a job because that gives me fulfillment? No, you just hope that might come along. Or you might forget that that was ever important at all. And then curious, what do you want to be known for? What is it that you might stand out? And there might be that you have some great contribution to make, but it's just not being seen or heard in your organization? Or in your role? Have you been known for that thing that you do or the thing that you want that you want to have that kind of recognition for? And you might be the go-to person in your organization for that. But is there another place where that could be valued as well? And you take that to a sort of a biggest regret or grander scale? Or do you want to start a blog around the thing that you know really well that other people struggle to express or struggle to understand? And then, you know, money. What will it take? Do you have enough already in use, this is just okay. Just finding something that will equally help you pay the bills? Or is this a financial move for you? I want to make the move that will really give me the money that I feel is important to me in my life. So yes, just shifting the focus on to the things that really matter. That's what I'm talking about in the book, when you want examples. Andi Simon: When you work with people, have you had your own epiphany about how important this is, I won't ask you which of the five matters to you most. But, I have a hunch that when somebody does have that epiphany, do they then begin to act on it, or help them actually change so that if in fact they're looking for kudos or recognition. They can find ways to do that or if they're looking for fulfillment and purpose, they can redefine what the world is, and actually act on it. How do you actually take them from discovery to implementation or something? Julia Wolfendale: Yeah, that's a bit that really excites me as well. So I love that whole exploration with clients to help them think about things they've never thought about before. I'll bring to the fore the things that they are clear that matter to them now. But yeah, I don't like to leave people hanging. So I always kind of frame my sessions around how do we make that happen now, so very practical steps. So another part of the book is, can you do that? What's possible? So, I'll be asking them, so what can you do in the next two hours about that? What could you do in the next week, the next month, the next three months, the next six months? People need to feel that they can make those incremental steps towards the goals, whether it's a short term, or longer term, we think about changing the timescale as appropriate. So just breaking things down. That's another part of the five ways: the focus approach makes it small and achievable, but still aspirational enough that someone feels this is stretching them and challenging them and changing them but with the courage and the confidence to do that. Andi Simon: You know, I think you get so excited about what you're doing. It's really quite remarkable because people are in need of a pause and a rethink of where they're going, and to create a new story about what they are becoming because they live already what's in their minds today. Once you got that story, there you think that's reality, but it may not be right. So true. Julia Wolfendale: Yeah, so true. And for me, particularly, I can remember sitting in my business studies degree and I can remember being asked in my university class to sit and write down what I wanted to be and do. So I wrote down that I wanted to be a marketing director by 25. And I was, and then it's like, oh, now what? And then I had my first child, and I had a fantastic, fantastic job, as marketing director, and had my first child, and then everything sort of changed my priorities pane. And I can remember being stranded at Schiphol Airport in Holland, after having this problem with the plane, and we couldn't fly home after having traveled over to a sales conference with the company, and really just weeping that I was already going to have to leave my six month old daughter for even longer. And at that moment, I thought, something's really changed for me that if I'm going to do the work, if I'm going to try, if I'm going to have to be away from my child, I really want the work to be fulfilling. And it changed. So what excited me when I was 25 and 30 was the marketing, the campaigns, the brand building, all of that was fantastic. And then suddenly, my social conscience just really kicked in. I worked for 13 years in the public sector as a manager in a local authority, managing and organizing Children's Services, really deeply fulfilling as well. I think, to be able to ask these questions of yourself at different times in your career and different times in your life, because you'll want different things. And it's okay. And I think people think that you get one shot at choosing your career, whereas there are very many paths to get to feeling fulfilled and satisfied at work. Andi Simon: You know, so it's interesting, Julia, after my second book came out, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business, I took the "how do you do that" at the end, and I turned it into an online do it yourself video program where you can rethink your story, not just for your career, but for your life. And I love when people take it because sometimes you need a guide, or you or me, but more often, you just need the discipline to try and pause and know what to do to rethink your story. And as you start to walk me through your own story, you had to have an epiphany, something went off in your mind and it was a catalyst. I always say, people, if you want to change, have a crisis or create one because the habits take over. It's so much easier not to change. Even if you're not happy at the end of the day, and you're not happy in the morning, when I coach people, I say, well, if you're not happy in the morning, we have to change the story. Let's go to bed with a happy story that you're going to wake up with so your mind is working on the happy not on the you are, just what you believe. And it is so true. It isn't somebody's doing it to you, you're doing it to yourself. Julia Wolfendale: Yeah. And I think the thing to notice is that we all experience our jobs differently. We all experience our own situations differently. So just because other people in your team might think this is the best job ever for them, but if it's not working for you, it's really okay to just check in with yourself. And if it's not fitting in with your family or your other priorities in your life, it is totally okay to ask yourself, what am I really looking for. In the book we're talking about change points and boiling points. And the difference between those is the change points is when changes are coming about. So the organization is restructuring, to mean that change is kind of naturally occurring. Or it might be a change in yourself like you're approaching 40. We see a lot of people who are kind of reaching milestone birthdays and have a rethink, like you say, pause, restart, reevaluate. Or it might be that a pandemic has caused a lot of people to reevaluate their lives. So there's change points that occur anyway. And they either come about unexpectedly because of external circumstances, or because of the natural process of aging or life change. And then there's boiling points. And it's important to pay attention to both because the boiling points are kind of less easy to spot. But if we tune ourselves into them, we know we're approaching them. So it's when those work stresses are just compounding and then it might just take something happened at home as well, which is the trigger but actually work wasn't great anyway. But, then suddenly, work just fell short of being sustainable or too difficult to face every day because there's now other stuff that's not going well in another part of life. And so many people have additional caring responsibilities now that haven't been, with our aging population, etc. So, I just think, noticing what those boiling points are as well and having that courage to kind of check in and ask for help. You know to reach out and ask for a coach or read the book. So you know, the help is available, but to notice that you might be at a boiling point, and people might be thinking, I need to change things for me. It's about taking charge, it takes a lot of courage. Andi Simon: It does. And you know, as you think of your own story, I love the story, because you had a plan at the beginning. And you actually fulfilled it, you didn't have to stay in it. And your life took a turn because you had this wonderful child, and you realize there was more to what you were all about than just what you were doing at the time. That's okay. Now, you've taken another turn past that and I do think that the most interesting time is a startup time, because that's when you're in the explore stage. You're really not quite sure what this is. But I know what I'm doing isn't whatever that means, and life is a short journey. And when one of the biggest challenges, and I have a hunch, you're going to begin to see it as people are reaching that age of retirement, and they have no plan for the next phase. So the next phase in their journey, and it doesn't take them long to have an aha moment, which says, this is not what I expected. There's only so much golf I can play. And it's not the financial money that's motivating me, it's fulfillment, it's purpose, it's recognition, it's fellowship, it's belonging. It's all the other things. Now you have to remember, we're humans, and humans need all those other things. You know, Daniel Pink has a wonderful book called Drive. He talks about autonomy, mastery and purpose. And I do think that humans are herd animals. The secret to our success is our collective minds, sharing ideas. It's really understanding that what you think is not just about you, it's more than just about you. It's about the world that we live in as people and it's a great time. And your book is great. I mean, as I'm listening to it, I'm saying this is really terrific because it gives people a way of reflection, as well as purpose and intention to begin to move into the next part of their journey. And it's okay, you don't fail. On the next part, well, that's pretty cool. Are there any illustrative cases that you can share? Or are they all private cases? Julia Wolfendale: Confidentiality is with coaching people, so I always really preserve that. That's really important. But I suppose the book really has the tools that I use in coaching that are in the book. So you know, they've come about because they're tried and tested, and they are the things that help people shift their thinking. And I think that what I know really works well is giving people that space to reflect like you say, and think about what's possible, and really tap into their true potential. And I think focusing on people's possibilities is such a shift because their self-talk can be so negative around what we're not going to be able to do or why we're not as good as somebody else. So I just think through that, and I've learned that through the coaching that perhaps we do share a dim view of ourselves. And through coaching, it's always about discovering what someone's really capable of, and that's really exciting. And through the book, as well, the questions that I asked people to ask of themselves will be ways that they'll discover what they're really capable of. And, even sometimes, just giving people a chance to check in and go at their pace. And that's the beauty of it and reading the book is that it's just all kind of in you. It's in bite sized chunks. Andi Simon: Sometimes the mirror isn't showing you what is real. And you can have a hard time figuring out where am I? And the pandemic sort of accelerated a lot of those questions. And in some ways, everybody started to reflect on what's next. And coming out of the pandemic is as challenging as almost being in it because you can't go back to what was before, and you're not quite sure what's coming next. And uncertainty is one of those things that make people most uncomfortable, basically should be the way they are. Well, they aren't really and you're crafting them as you're living and you need to see the future if you're going to live today. This has been such fun. Are there one or two or three things that you don't want our listeners to forget? Because those are always important. Julia Wolfendale: Yeah, so I think that they get to choose, they get to choose how to think and they get to choose what to do with their thoughts. You can choose how to think. You can choose to cut through the noise and to focus on the things that matter to you. But that does require you to sit down and really think, Okay, what matters to me? And if you feel that you've been driven very much by what other people's expectations are, you might find that things feel a little empty for you at the moment for people to really reevaluate and have that kind of life. Through the book, there's always a big question that helps people reflect, followed by some action questions that really help people move forward with that insight. And I just think everybody's insights are true for them. And everybody's actions have to be right for them. So it's not about comparing with other people, everybody is on their own path. And sometimes it feels like you've strayed from the path. But hey, that can be part of the path to realize too. You're where you don't want to be right now. And that's a chance to come back a couple of steps or take a different turn completely. And you know, so not to be so harsh in judging how you are in your situation, and remind yourself that there is a way to rethink and think yourself out of a particular situation. But a lot of it will mean thinking well of yourself. And just rediscovering really what's available within you. Coaches always think about things particularly like this stance. As a coach, I'm very much a supportive, challenging coach. But I really believe in people's resourcefulness and reminding people of that. I think it's important to sort of tap into what's already there, and how it can be reused and then kind of used to point the way forwards for somebody. Andi Simon: And what's so exciting about what you're saying is that it's in your hands. I preach that as well. If you think that the problem is outside yourself, that's the problem, because you can't fix the outside of yourself. You only can fix how you see, feel and think about it. And if you can't craft a new story, you can't live a new story. When I work with people who move this way, as you're asking them hard questions, you have to come to the point where you're ready to move this way to begin to hear your own self, your heart beating. If you can focus on that heart, and begin to see what makes you remember, we decide with the heart, and the head comes in as the eyes, the heart, the gut, and then the head. So don't try and beat yourself out of it. You've got to feel yourself out of it. Julia Wolfendale: That's right. And those boiling points, notice that you're experiencing those even if people like you aren't. If that's your experience, notice it. Notice what you can do about it, rather than kind of sit with the problem too long. Because though, that's when we get really stuck and withdrawn and disengaged and disillusioned and disconnected. And it's so much harder then, isn't it, to kind of come back and offer up your best self to the situation. So just notice that it's good. Andi Simon: Often when people look at career changes, I say, Well, have you spent any time with anyone who's in that career? Often, somehow they're imagining what it would be like to work in that field. I say, Well go. Take a leave from your job and go test out your imagination and see if something is better than what you have. But you may not really know what it is and why it's better. And just give yourself a little room to grow. I'm an explorer by nature, my archetype. I'm an explorer. And I like discovery. I'm an anthropologist. I like to see things. All of the folks that you're working with need a little time to step back, pause and take a look at where they are and what comes next. And it's okay, and it may not work. I taught a course on entrepreneurship as a visiting professor at Washington University. And every one of the entrepreneurs said the same thing. I opened three businesses and I never failed. And I thought, interesting way to distance yourself from the outside. And never think of yourself as the problem. Where can they find your book? And can they buy your book on Amazon or someplace? Julia Wolfendale: Absolutely. Yeah. So the book Five Ways to Focus by Julia Wolfendale is on Amazon, in the US and the UK and worldwide. And also on my website ontheupconsulting.com. And there's more about the book in there and what we're referring to coaching and consulting services as well. Andi Simon: Okay, my friends, thank you for joining us today. Julia, thank you for joining us. It's been such fun. Your book is full of really important insights about how people can see, feel and think in new ways. So it's actually perfectly aligned with what we try to do and help people. For those of you who are watching, thanks for coming. It's always a pleasure. Remember that you decide with your heart and your eyes. So if you're stuck, or stalled, go explore. Spend a little time talking to people, maybe even Julia, maybe even me, but begin to think through, who am I? Where am I going? You don't have to do it alone. You often need an echo back or place to vent, someplace to see, feel and think about where you are in life at a moment. And when you get too closed in, you don't see anything that's going on. Your mind deletes anything that challenges that story you've got. It's time for a new story. But you don't need to do it all by yourself and create it. And remember, your brain loves the habits, the familiar. They love the story that you've got, and they love pleasure. But it's what you're doing, giving you pleasure. So it's a great time to pause, step back and rethink the five forces that will help you do that. So on that note, remember, I love your emails, info@Andisimon.com . Our website is Simonassociates.net and my books Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights are both on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and local bookstores. And they continue to sell now. On the Brink came out in 2016 and it's still going strong. So I thank you all for just being good fans. Thanks again. Have a great day!

Imogene Drummond—How Can A Brilliant Artist Show You How To Communicate Effectively—Online?

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2023 32:39

Hear how to really hear what people are saying in meetings Imogene Drummond is a woman whose story I love to share. She is bold and courageous about things she wants to do or learn more about. Today's topic is how her new program, ACQUITS, grew out of her interest in helping people communicate better, especially in the virtual environments so many of us find ourselves in these days. Imogene's professional life evolved from her training in psychology to her very successful career as an artist, to filmmaking, and now to working with people to develop their online communication skills. This is so timely. Do enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here ACQUITS stands for the 10 essential principles for successful meetings This process is based on how we must: listen before we speak hear what others are saying adapt our thinking to understand what the speaker intended, not what we think we heard do all this without the body and facial cues we use during in-person conversations Meet Imogene Drummond Imogene Drummond is an artist, filmmaker and educator. She has an MSW from Catholic University, was a family therapist in the late 1970s, is the founder and principal of Divine Sparks Media, and is currently Director of Social Media at the Deeptime Network. She studied at MICA's Mt. Royal School of Art and her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions from New York to Australia. Her paintings are in private, corporate and hotel collections, as well as the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Her new program, ACQUITS, came from observing how people behave while engaged in zoom calls, and focuses on teaching people how to change their communication strategies to engage better and benefit more fully from online conversations. You can connect with Imogene on LinkedIn, her website, or by email: imogene@imogenedrummond.com. Want to communicate better? Here's a great place to start: Podcast: Monique Russell—To Lead With Clarity, You First Must Communicate Confidently Podcast: Lisa Perrine—Clever, Creative Ways To Enhance And Amplify Workplace Communications Podcast: Nadia Bilchik—How To Master Communication In A Virtual World Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. I'm your host and your guide. And my job is to get you off the brink. So I go looking for people who can help you see, feel and think in new ways, opening your minds to solutions to problems you may be working with or dealing with, but aren't quite sure how to solve now, particularly as we emerge from these years of pandemic. You never want to waste a crisis, and it's a great time for you to learn some new techniques. And today I've brought to us Imogene Drummond. Imogene is a wonderful woman. I'm going to tell you about her. But she also has a program you're going to be very interested in. It's called ACQUITS, and it's a toolkit for facilitating conscious and effective communication for online groups. Now that is a really interesting topic. You know as well as I do that we are spending so much of our time online. And for women in particular, it isn't giving us more opportunity to participate. But the dynamics are much more obvious when you're watching men and women, different genders and age groups, on the screen and how we're competing for time and space. And what actually happens with communication, people often saying, "You didn't hear me. I may have said something, you may have thought what you heard, but may not have been what I meant." And so communication is very hard. Let me tell you about Imogene. Imogene is an internationally-collected painter, award-winning filmmaker, writer, artist, educator and foremost psychotherapist. You're going to say, "How interesting, where did ACQUITS come from?" ACQUITS is a toolkit for facilitating this effective communication. The acronym refers to the lesser-known definition of the word acquits, meaning how one conducts oneself. Imogene's educational course for middle school students combines creativity, self-worth and the universe. That is pretty cool, particularly when we learn that we are billions of years old. And who knows how we ever emerged from a few molecules of this, mixed with the fuel of that? Options for The Future is the closing piece in a thought-provoking anthology, The Rule of Mars, which was endorsed by Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist and author Jared Diamond. Now, if you haven't read Jared Diamond's work, it's well worth reading. And I have all his books and just love him. Due to her painting expeditions around the world, Imogene was invited to join the Society of Woman Geographers, whose membership includes explorers of ideas as well as geography, among them, Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart and Jane Goodall. I must tell you that when you discovered who I was, I was an explorer. Now I've done a recent self-assessment, and I'm also a philosopher. And I guess that's why you and I have eclectic interests that come together around helping people see, feel and think in new ways. Thank you for joining me tonight. Imogene Drummond: Exactly. Thank you, Andi. And thank you for the opportunity to be on this wonderful podcast. It's great that you create these interesting podcasts that support women's amazing stories and important work. So I'm honored to be here today. Andi Simon: Please tell our viewers, who's Imogene? What's your journey? How did you get here? Where are you? Imogene Drummond: Well, speaking of where we came from, the last 7 billion years, my journey has been really a series of evolutions. And I started out as a psychotherapist, and then I decided I really needed to do something for me. And so I became an artist. And I was painting and going on these trips, expeditions. And then I created a script with paper cutouts. So it became an illustrated manuscript. That was really a new origin story that I thought would help children and help the world. And then I decided I needed to do more with it. And I made it into a film. And I had never made a film and I decided, Okay, now, really, it's a feel-good film. It's gotten a nice award. But I mean, it needs to help people to be more practical and functional. So I made it into a curriculum. And it became a curriculum at a middle school, a visionary school in Newburgh. So it's just surprising because when I started to go on this journey, I just thought, Well, who knows what will happen? Maybe I'll start painting pastel tulips? I don't know. So I'm very pleased that I just kept being creative. And I kept exploring new ways. Andi Simon: You know, there's a wonderful book, The Secret to Our Success. And in the book, Joseph Henrich talks about his own realization that human evolution has come about because of our shared collective brain. And as I'm listening to you, I think our listeners would love to know, did you go on this journey alone? Or were you picking ideas up from people? How did you begin to evolve? Personally, you didn't have many careers, you had sort of one person moving through different stages here. How does that happen? Imogene Drummond: Very interesting question. No one has ever asked me that end. You know, it felt lonely at times. But it's true, I have had a group of mostly women. I did, my father was like a guide. So he was very helpful. But especially this group of Society of Woman Geographers there, the woman who invited me was herself an artist. I just kept finding people who were supportive, and kind of just finding them. Then I ended up with this group, the Deeptime Network, that I'm on the advisory board of, which is why I made the ACQUITS toolkit. Oh, it's interesting. It has not been alone. And I think that's something in our culture, where we're influenced to think about me, me, me. And really, we need to shift and think about we, so that's one of the ideas behind the ACQUITS toolkit. Andi Simon: So I think that the ACQUITS came about because you saw some unmet needs. You're very much a blue ocean thinker. It isn't about doing more of the same, a little bit better. It's really about how do I solve a problem, create a new market, find solutions that may be right beneath us, but could be done in a different kind of fashion. Tell us a little bit about ACQUITS and then you can put up your screen so we can talk about the elements of it. Imogene Drummond: Well, just to give you some background, I've been working with this fascinating cutting edge nonprofit, the Deeptime Network, which provides educational courses to connect us to the cosmos; again, exactly what you're talking about. It talks about this evolution of humans, and the whole cosmos through this. They were gearing up to shift from having three-month courses to nine-month courses, somewhat early in the pandemic. And I had been on a number of zooms with diverse situations and groups. And there were a number of things that were needed that were problematic in each experience. And the main noticeable one was that, oftentimes, somebody would speak too long. And so I had said to the co-founder and president Jennifer Morgan of the Deeptime Network that some communication guidelines would be helpful to people. And she said, great idea, Imogene, you do it. Andi Simon: I have a hunch that it wasn't a bad idea, anyhow. Imogene Drummond: Well, I thought, "You know what, I've been thinking about this," which is why I suggested it. And so I thought, "Okay, I'll run with it." And that is exactly why I developed it. It is to help people be more conscious in communicating in groups online. The techniques are also good for lots of situations, including in-person. But, I noticed that it's difficult to get feedback when you're speaking in a group on zoom because everybody else is muted. And so you're not hearing things that you might hear if you're in a boardroom or a classroom, where people might be drumming their fingernails or rattling their coffee cups or coughing, or being wrapped with the tension. And also with the monitor, you're just looking at this inanimate technological thing, versus people's real faces. So you don't get the feedback online that you do in real life. So I think there are many reasons why there were problems on zoom that aren't in real situations. Andi Simon: You know, in some ways, I am wondering two things. One of which is, many years ago, I did a television series for CBS Sunrise Semesters when people got up at six in the morning to get college credit; it was a long time ago. But I remember talking into the camera with no audience. And sometimes when you're doing a zoom workshop or something, people don't turn on their cameras. And you're talking as if you're doing a television show with no audience. And you have to imagine, and you require a lot of creative emotions. We, as you and I are talking, respond to each other listening or not, based on my face and how I'm responding. And then you can take it to the next stage, because you're trying to figure out, Am I making my point? Or am I not? So it was interesting, as I went back in time to remember the feeling. Somebody once said to me, as I was recording, You're really good, but you should smile. I went, Ah. He said, When you smile, the thing is that we learn. But this is very important, because I don't think zoom calls, webs, are going to go away. In fact, I hope they don't, because it gives us a multiplier, both of our time and our topics and so forth. But, I'm also not sure that interpersonal relationships aren't truncated by the very same things that happen in a virtual one, except we don't pay attention to the same way. And I'll segue into you talking about your programming in a second because I've been starting to go back and do live workshops, or live public speaking, keynotes. And I forgot the high that I get from being in an in-person experience. Now, the audience, when I've done it remotely, gives me great reviews. And, they too, though, are coming back. Because people are herd animals, we like each other. And we must be better when we watch each other. And we can celebrate what others are doing. Put up your screen, and let's take a look at what the elements of ACQUITS are all about and how to apply them because I have a hunch our listeners or watchers are going to want to do it. And for those listening, I promise you, Imogene will talk you through what is here so you can understand why it's so important for the techniques that she teaches and that you can learn. Imogene Drummond: Okay, thank you, Andi. So, this is a slide from my PowerPoint presentation with all of the techniques together. And through the PowerPoint presentation that I give about the ACQUITS toolkit, we go into each one in more detail. So this is a summary. And the first one is the A is for agree, and everybody in the course or on the zoom call agrees to these principles or these techniques. So you have to get everyone to buy in first. And also I think it's interesting because I wrote up these techniques and then it was like, Oh, if we make it into an anagram, it becomes ACQUITS. And there's two definitions for the word acquit. One is the one we're familiar with, where you get off, but the other one is about how you conduct yourself. So this ACQUITS refers to how one conducts oneself. So the first actual technique is affirm, that we affirm others. The next one is C for contribute. We contribute to the conversation. And that means you don't add something that's not on topic. You stay on topic and you contribute something that is helpful to other people. The next is the Q. Ask a question, ask people what they mean or to explain better or more clearly, or in more depth. The U refers to unite. You want to have a conversation where people are getting feeling connected versus disconnected. So we want to keep this attitude of uniting people. The I is for include. Let's make comments that include people; oftentimes there's a quiet or a couple of quiet people in the group. So it's important to remember to include them. The T is for "think gratitude," is so important, really goes a long way to facilitating connections and good communication. So the next three really refer to the idea of helping people speak more succinctly and clearly. So Share and Stop. The S means stop, give one idea, not three. Share your one idea, and then stop and breathe, and let other people respond to it. The next S is for self-regulation, which is to think ahead of time. You know, editing is vital for good writing, right? So, to be a good speaker, we need to edit our thoughts. So if we think that it's important to edit our thoughts first, before we speak, then we can do that better. And self-regulate is about editing ourselves. And also speaking for two minutes, not more than two minutes; a lot can happen in two minutes. And to set parameters as well, that you should try to express your idea in less than two minutes. So that's the very basic techniques, really. Andi Simon: But when you articulate them, we become aware of them. And if we're not aware of them, we won't know whether we are self-regulating, or contributing or dominating. We really don't know how to do better at sharing ideas, and building, affirming each other's position. It's interesting, because the nature of the online experiences is that I have to manage my leadership academy participants, for example, so everyone has time to talk. And if I don't, some of them will fall asleep. But I mean, there's an ease with which you go on and off the screen. When we were in person, I had to make sure everyone had an opportunity to talk as well. And the whole nature of talking in a group, it was almost a training session without calling it such. And because I was the orchestrator, as if this was a symphony, and each person was playing a different instrument. But for the whole to really sound like great music, we all had to come together over the same piece of music. What are we here for? The metaphor was interesting because nobody had to duplicate each other. You know, the violins didn't have to play the cello part. And the oboe couldn't play the flute. But you can see them visualize, because that's how we learned what I was trying to achieve on the screen. It's not that different, and a good presenter knows how to orchestrate it in a way that equips everybody for coming up with ideas, almost preparing them before they come with, You're going to contribute how and how are you going to regulate yourself? So in middle school, what do you do to teach kids? Imogene Drummond: Well, what I do in middle school is a whole different creativity program that helps to facilitate their own creativity. I don't teach art. And that program combines creativity, the cosmos. Again, I'm connecting them to the cosmos and self-worth. So that's what I'm affirming continually, that in terms of what you just said, they are all unique. There's no two alike, even if they're twins. And each work is unique. So every time, they're really creating intentional artwork, to express themselves. So every time they do that, I consider it a success, because they have intended to express themselves. And, I just wanted to mention that with the ACQUITSS online, I don't give the whole presentation myself because it's about the process. The whole toolkit is about processes. And so what I do is I involve three or four other people from the program, and we divide up the text and practice it. And then we share different people, give different parts of the toolkit, the presentation as I go along. And it's been really terrific. It's really working well and engaging people because it's very content heavy. And in the program at the Deeptime Network, one presentation included a Sikh from India, a Canadian with a French accent, an Irish American with a beautiful lilting voice, and me. Andi Simon: And all of those things added quality and color. I misrepresented you. This isn't being done in the middle schools. Tell us where the program is? I didn't mean to misrepresent it. Imogene Drummond: The ACQUITS is really for communication to help people be more conscious online. And so I really think educational programs are perfect for it. I'm using it in the Deeptime Network for a nine-month program. It's now part of their curriculum. It's the second week of the whole course. So that people set the ground rules, basically, because it's really about delineating expected behavior. And I think it really helped optimize what they're doing on the network in these courses. They're phenomenal courses anyway. They're fascinating. There's a wonderful community emerging out of it. And the ACQUITS, it's just made it easier to help people communicate well and be heard. And, for example, it's interesting, Andi, 10% of the participants returned to take this nine-month course a second time. Andi Simon: Wow, that's great. Isn't that remarkable! Imogene Drummond: And I think that's a testament to what the course is, and to that, Steve Martin, the facilitator, is phenomenal. But I think the ACQUITS kind of smooths it, it greases the wheels and facilitates it. And I was really excited when one time, Steve Martin, the facilitator of the course, said that ACQUITS is a good model to improve our relationship with the environment. I would have never thought of that. Yes, brilliant idea. How about if we change our relationship to the environment? And here's a set of techniques we could use as guidelines, because they are really just guidelines. Andi Simon: Yeah. But you know, there's a structure to relating what you've created. Whether you're affirming it or you're self-regulating it or you're contributing,it is a structure to relationships. Well, I'm not sure, as a young person growing up, you really appreciate the possibilities of a structure to those relationships as you're trying to build friendships and play on sports teams. And, you know, everyone is theoretically a guide, but often they don't have anything to guide you with. So this is really powerful. You know, it's interesting because I have a hunch you're leading this somewhere. What comes next for you? Imogene Drummond: Well, actually, Andi, that's why I called you because I want to get it out into the world. More people in the Deeptime Network, they're using it on their own. But I want to give presentations about it in courses or places that have online meetings on a repeat repetitive basis because then you can use it. It's not like it's not for some. Oftentimes I give a presentation, that's just a one-time presentation about my artwork or something. This is not that; this is about setting the ground rules for a course, like you were saying: the structure of the relationships. So they use it in the Deeptime Network now every year for their nine-month leadership course. And I would like it to be used elsewhere, other educational courses, or any kind of group where people meet online for more than one for multiple sessions. Andi Simon: You know, I hope our listeners and our viewers consider ACQUITS for themselves in their organizations, or to refer you to others, because I know no other programs like this. I think that the time couldn't be more ripe because as we are rebuilding hybrid relationships, they are trying to figure out, How do I manage other people? How do I build a global business, in a hybrid fashion with the tools that are needed? How do we keep our humanity when we don't see each other on a daily basis? You're shaking your head, right? Imogene Drummond: Yes, yes, absolutely. Well said, absolutely. Andi Simon: And when you think about it, we don't realize what we give up when we go hybrid, or what we have to do when we come in. It's very complicated. I can't tell you how many of our clients have people coming in and sitting on their computers doing zoom calls with the people who haven't come in, wondering, Why they drive in for an hour? I have one prospective client who was upset because they were having a flywheel of hires who are leaving because there was no community to come into. And so there's a moment where this is extremely needed. Imogene, as we think about wrapping up, two or three things you want the listener not to forget, other than they have to call Imogene. As you're thinking through your own program here, you know, what is it that a listener should remember? Imogene Drummond: Well, I think it's important that we start thinking in terms of shifting from me to we. We have to be more community-minded and not always me first, me first trumpeting my own work. And also, I think listening is important, but I think we're taught to listen because, how often have we heard, especially as children, our parents or teachers say, Listen, listen to me, listen to this. But I think we haven't really been taught to speak clearly and succinctly in group settings. So I think it's important to learn to do that, and affirming people asking questions, expressing gratitude. All these are easy, but important things to do that really help and they help build bonds with connections with people. Andi Simon: You know, Imogene said something that I want to emphasize, if you haven't read Judith Glaser's work on creating we, or conversational intelligence. Judith passed away about three years ago, maybe two years ago now. And her work in neuroscience, she was an observational and organizational anthropologist, and she realized that what we were learning from the neurosciences is that the words we say create the worlds we live in. Others have said similar things, but to use the word AI, your amygdala immediately protects the listener from the imposition of your thoughts on theirs. And the amygdala starts to create cortisol. And it flees it, it fears it, it's unfamiliar to it; anything that is unclear to it, it rejects. But when you say we, the oxytocin in your brain begins to flow, and you bond with the person who wants to build trust, and it creates a solution. I know how you said we without that context, so I'll add the context to it. Because I think that ACQUITS is about a we world where it isn't about me, or I, but it's about co-creating meaning. Now remember, humans are meaning-makers. We evolved because we can create meaning on things, as the virtual is an interesting catalytic moment for how to create new meaning about what people are saying, what they're doing, and how to behave to do what to achieve what is. And I do think ACQUITS is very timely. And for those of you listening, I think you're going to want to follow up with Imogene to find out how to become more into acquitting each other for the way we communicate. Imogene, where can they reach you? And how can they find out more about you? Imogene Drummond: Well, my website is immogenedrummond.com. Andi Simon: Good, we'll have all that information for you on the video and on the blog around the audio as well. Let us wrap up a little bit because I think Imogene in her creative way, she hasn't quite made a film yet about life on the internet, but she might. But I do think she wants you to begin to see that the new isn't feared, it's something that can be really embraced. And the gap is between the way we're communicating and what we're doing in that communication that could really make for better bonds, the same way she and I are talking here today. I must tell you that when I do just audio, it's fine for a podcast, but I certainly love doing the video card because she and I are having a great conversation. And for all of you are listening to it. So enjoy the conversation. Let me thank all of you who have been coming to On the Brink with Andi Simon. We launched this in 2017. And the reception has been just fantastic. I mean, you've pushed us into the top 5% of global podcasts. And I'm always impressed with how people find me to say, I'd like to be on your podcast, or bring me people who they think should be on my podcast. So I open that up: info@Andisimon.com gets right to me. But I have two books out there: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights. My third one comes out in September 2023. I can't tell you its name quite yet, but it's terrific. And you're going to really enjoy learning more about how to see, feel and think in new ways. That's the whole point of our podcasts and our blogs in the way we are trying to help people do something they hate, which is to change. Don't ever waste a crisis, I tell my clients. Use a crisis and learn from it, and begin to see how to do things better, or at least differently and test them. I love pilots. In any event, it's been a delightful day to share Imogene Drummond who came to you from the Hudson Valley. Thank you, Imogene. It's great fun. It's great fun to share your story. And I wish you all to get off the brink. So thanks for coming to On the Brink with Andi Simon, and let me know how you're doing. Goodbye now. Have a great day.

Britt Titus—Let's Use Behavioral Science To Help People Live Better Lives

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2023 40:53

Hear how understanding someone's culture can improve lives I was so excited to have the opportunity to speak with Britt Titus on our podcast. As you will learn, Britt found her calling when she discovered how behavioral sciences and humanitarian concerns could transform the world, one step at a time. The two of us are crazy about behavioral sciences, so it was such a joy to share our fascination with the difficulties people have understanding others who differ from them. Whether addressing Ebola in Liberia and West Africa or helping mothers in Mali avoid malnourishment in their children, Britt is constantly humbled by the challenges of helping people do things that seem so logical to those of us from the Global North. As she says, nothing is as simple as it might appear. And humility can often be the best way to bring about changes that can have a huge impact on health. Don't miss this one! Watch and listen to our conversation here It isn't that people cannot understand what you are saying They just have different stories in their own minds about what those words mean and how or why to change their behaviors. Solving problems with others requires us to understand what matters to them, what they believe to be truth. Remember, as I like to say, the only truth is there is no truth. Listen in to Britt Titus and enjoy our journey as part of your own. About Britt Britt's background lies at the intersection of behavioral insights and humanitarian action. She previously worked at Nudge Lebanon where she managed projects that applied behavioral insights to issues related to conflict and violence, ranging from gender-based violence to social cohesion and refugee integration. Beforehand, she spent most of her career working for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in humanitarian response and preparedness across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including emergency deployments to Liberia for the Ebola outbreak and the Middle East for the regional Syria response. Britt has a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of Oxford where she focused on applied behavioral science and completed research at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in London. You can connect with Britt on LinkedIn or her page on the Airbel Impact Lab website. For more stories about living with a purpose, we recommend these: Podcast: Lisa McLeod—If You Want To Succeed, You Must Find Your Noble Purpose Podcast: Pat Shea—Use Your Passions To Become Who You Want To Be Podcast: Theresa Carrington—Transforming Impoverished Artisans Into Entrepreneurs Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. I'm your host and your guide. As you know, I'm the founder and CEO of Simon Associates Management Consultants. We specialize in applying anthropological tools to help people change. And you know, as I've told you, so many times people hate to change, so we help you see things through a fresh lens and get off the brink and soar. Today, I'm absolutely honored to have with us Britt Titus. Now this is a very interesting woman whom you are going to love to meet to learn more about and understand how behavioral sciences can be applied in humanitarian ways that you may be unfamiliar with. Let me read you her background and then I'll introduce her. Her background lies at the intersection of behavioral insights and humanitarian actions. She previously worked at Nudge Lebanon where she managed projects that applied behavioral insights to issues related to conflict and violence, ranging from gender-based violence to social cohesion and refugee integration. She's going to tell you more about that. Beforehand, she spent most of her career working for the United Nations World Food Program in humanity, humanitarian response and preparedness across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including emergency deployments to Liberia for the Ebola outbreak in the Middle East for regional Syria response. Britt has a Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford, where she focused on Applied Behavioral Science and completed research at the Behavioural Insights Team in London. It's really an honor and a privilege to have you here. I'm so glad you could join me. Tell our listeners, it's so much fun. Let's add one behavioral scientist to another who are working in different areas, but in similar ways, sort of tell us about Britt. What's your journey like? Let's make you come alive so people can appreciate how you've applied behavioral sciences to all kinds of different problems. Please, who's Britt? Britt Titus: Thanks, Andi. Happy to share. So I started my journey really working for the United Nations when I was in my early 20s, which seems like a long time ago now. And, you know, the team that I was working with within the United Nations was really like a fire response department. So we were responsible for responding to emergencies all over the world, across many different continents, which included a lot of kind of rapid deployments for sudden onset emergencies. And so I really started my career by being thrown in the deep end. My first year with the UN, I was deployed to work on the Syria emergency across Jordan and Lebanon, trying to support the humanitarian community to get aid and relief supplies into the country across borders. And shortly after that, I was also deployed to the Ebola outbreak in 2014, if you can remember that, at that time. So being deployed to Monrovia, that capital, and working within the UN system to try to better respond to the growing number of Ebola cases at that time. And so this was a really formative period in my life. It was extremely rewarding. But something that was always the most interesting to me was the human element. Why are people responding the way they do? Why, when we, the humanitarian community, are bringing relief supplies to communities in Liberia and West Africa, why is there so much fear, and, you know, the incredible, impossible task of trying to encourage people who are experiencing the Ebola outbreak, to kind of turn over their sick family members to these faceless, masked PPE-donned health workers? In the midst of this crisis were all actions that needed to happen and we were struggling. We were building these large Ebola treatment units across the country, these large hospitals, and the beds were empty. And so we had to try and understand very rapidly, why are people not bringing their loved ones, their family members to these hospitals. What we understood was, it was the human element. It was the fear, it was the misinformation, it was the rumors. And the very, very difficult task of taking someone who's very ill and handing them over to these places that were very unknown and unfamiliar and foreign. And so these were the questions that I always grappled with and was so fascinated by. And so, partway into my career within the UN, I really knew that I wanted to go back and spend some time studying a little bit more and understanding how we can shift the way we do humanitarian response. A lot of organizations, you know, the way that we've been doing humanitarian response now is the way we've been doing it for 50 years, and so there's a lot of growing interest in more innovative ways of responding so we can improve outcomes for people whose lives are affected by crisis and conflict. And so one of those ways that I found, maybe my first week doing my master's of public policy, someone mentioned behavioral science, and I said, what's that? As soon as they told me what it was like, that's what I've always been interested in. I just didn't know the name of it. I didn't know that it had a whole evidence based theory behind it. And so I signed up for every course that I could at the University of Oxford, and really delved deep into it. The struggle was, of course, that I found that it was being applied in government, and it was being applied in private sector companies around the world. But, it was not being applied in a systematic way in the humanitarian sector to deal with the issues that I cared about, like pandemics, and health, and prevention of violence, and education for people affected by crisis. And so I was searching high and low for people who would be interested in this behavioral science thing. And it was difficult at that time, that was 2016. I had a lot of really interesting conversations with people who thought it was a great idea. But, it was definitely difficult to get some traction. And so eventually, I found Nudge Lebanon which is a small NGO working out of Beirut, in Lebanon, applying behavioral science to issues like social cohesion between the host population and refugees, health, nutrition, all of these topics that I care so deeply about, and really was able to start start running experiments to understand human behavior, and all for the purpose of trying to improve humanitarian outcomes for people, Syrian refugees, and Lebanese, in Lebanon. And so that was really the beginning of my career in this intersection of these two areas that I care about so deeply, and eventually found that IRC, the International Rescue Committee, the organization I currently work for, has an innovation team called the Airbelt Impact Lab. And within that, one of their core areas, or kind of tools in their toolkit, is behavioral science and so I joined that team, and now I lead the behavioral science team there. So that's my journey, Andi Simon: The most exciting part is that you have gone through your own self discovery. At the same time, you're now trying to bring a new perspective and way of seeing things to people who think they're doing just fine, thank you very much. The most interesting part, you know, there are many things that are interesting about what you're doing, but the hardest part is that it isn't working but that's the way we do it. And if that's the way we've always done it, that must be the right way to do it. But it's not working. Well, maybe it could work better. But that's the way we've always done it. And I can tell you, it's not that different from going into an organization, a business that is fractured, a toxic culture. And they say, well, this isn't good, but it's the way we've always done it. Humans are wonderfully resistant to leaving that shiny object and going to a new way of seeing things that might do better. And the big question is, how will we know? You know, the unknown becomes a crux for not doing it. And so I'm anxious to hear about some of your extraordinary experiences, helping them honestly do just what we said today: see, feel and think in new ways, so they can really overcome the resistance and do better. Help us understand some of the ways that this has been working for you. How have you been able to start the transformation of people's minds? And you know, breaking down the resistance to change? Britt Titus: Well, yes. So yeah, normally with our work, applying behavioral science in humanitarian settings, we are aiming to shift behavior in the population that we're serving. So for example, we're aiming to shift behavior of teachers in a refugee camp or parents in a conflict setting. But you're absolutely right, Andi, that the change needs to start at home. And it is really difficult. And a lot of the behavioral biases and the resistance to change that we see in all of us also happens in our own organizations and our own teams. And so, yes, we are a small team, doing behavioral science work, a team of around four people at the moment, sitting within a wide integration of 15,000 people almost in 40 different countries around the world. So it is no small feat to embed this new approach into the work we're doing. So yeah, I think, you know, a lot of what we try and do with the population, we also try to do at home. I think one of the good things, one of the opportunities, is that a lot of what teams have been doing for a long time, their aim is ultimately what we're trying to do is try to shift behavior, or help people kind of align their actions with their intention. So supporting populations to achieve the outcomes that they want for themselves, whether that's improved education for their family, improved health, whatever it is, and so often, that's really an entry point for us. Because ultimately, we want the same thing. We want to shift behavior in some way, or help people kind of leverage these drivers of behavior, which can help achieve outcomes. So that's our first entry point. And so I think, what is important is to first kind of help these other teams see that we're trying to achieve the same thing, which is always important for behavioral science work, is kind of identifying where the kind of similar values are, or where your shared values, your shared objective is, and then coming in and offering behavioral science, and that is something that's going to replace the ways of doing things from before, and it's definitely not a silver bullet. But what we try to do is help teams see that we can all use it as an added boost. All of these projects, especially for these humanitarian contexts, are working in where the challenges are extremely complex, and extremely just have a lot of complexity in them. Using these tools that can help us understand human behavior, not just at the individual or household level, but also at the system level within a country can be extremely, extremely helpful. And what's also beneficial is that behavioral science interventions tend to be quite cost effective, whether it's shifting the way that people see an intervention, or using different types of messaging, or helping people plan for the future. These are not tools that are incredibly expensive. And so they actually work very well in these contexts, especially where we're resource constrained, which we often are in a humanitarian context. So there's a lot that we can do there to kind of help people see that this is something that can be added on to their existing way of doing things and be embedded within program development and design and doesn't have to replace it. I think what's also really important is bringing teams along in the entire journey. So we know that if people are involved in things early on, they tend to have a sense of ownership, which is really good for building momentum and having buy-in. But at the same time, we know that these programs and these projects are only really going to be effective if we have the input of the people who are closest to the problem. And so it's really twofold. It is important to build ownership. But it's even more important to have their input, because behavioral science interventions are only as good as we understand the context of the problem. And typically, it's our project teams and and our teams on the ground who know those things the best. Andi Simon: How my head is going through at least a dozen questions. Let me take you through the first question. I'll be an apologist. How do you access real insight into what they think the problem is, or how do you begin to, because to your point, people have a story in their mind and that's the one they're trying to live. Like, we don't want to. You're trying to show them a different way that might be more effective, whether it's teaching or it's abuse in the home, or it's whatever the issue is. So somehow, we have to change their story. The Ebola one is a perfect one. You know, the big place wasn't the right place for my sick mom. But you didn't know how I felt or my story about it so I'm not going to do what you say. Even if it may be the right solution, but doesn't fit the way we do things. So story, changing your messaging point is extremely important. And it has to resonate with both the people you're collaborating with on your side and the people who you're trying to engage. Because if they don't engage in the solution, it'll just sit on the surface and never get below it. Am I right? Britt Titus: Absolutely. Yes. What do you do? Great. It's a great question. So I think, traditionally, behavioral science has tended to be a little bit top down. So behavioral scientists get together in a team, they come up with an intervention. You know, they try and understand a bit about the context in which they test that intervention, usually in a rigorous way or with some type of evaluation, but what we've found especially, definitely around the world, but definitely in these contexts, is, we have to spend a lot more time doing this in a more bottom up approach. One, because a lot of the behavioral science evidence including anthropology and psychology and social sciences is really based in the Global North and stable Western context. And so we don't actually know, as a field, as a community, a lot about the unique psychologies of people who are experiencing conflict displacement, or people who are living in the Global South. What is challenging about that is that means we have to do a lot better. But there's really an opportunity there as well, because I think it really forces us to be more humble about what we don't know, and really go in and speak to our clients, we call them clients, the communities that we're serving, as the experts. They are the experts in what is going to work best for them. They are the experts in what has been tried before and has failed. If we create something for them without them being included, then it's never going to be a sustainable solution. Even if we encourage people to take something up once, it doesn't mean they're going to change their behavior in the long run. And so I have an example of a project where this was very evident in northeast Nigeria. So in northeast Nigeria, and globally, the community has been trying to roll out a different way of teaching children, which is called social and emotional learning, which really tries to improve the social and emotional capabilities and skills of children, especially vulnerable children in places like the ones we work in northeast Nigeria, and Yemen, and Lebanon. And so the reason we're doing this is because there's a lot of evidence in the Global North about how these types of activities that can improve emotional regulation, or conflict resolution in children, have been extremely effective. And so humanitarian organizations have tried to roll those out in these contexts as well, except they found very little impact or even no impact when they roll them out. This obviously leads to a lot of confusion. Why are these interventions, these very effective evidence based interventions, working in the Global North and not in places like northeast Nigeria? And so when we went into the project to try and look at this, we had two hypotheses. One was, maybe these activities have not been contextualized enough for the northeast Nigerian context. And the second one was, teachers may not be using them enough for them to have the skill building effects on children so we're not seeing any impact. And so what we did is, we started from the very kind of most local way we could start. So we started by speaking to teachers, parents, headmasters, to the local government in the area, and trying to understand how they see social emotional learning happening in children. What does it mean to grow up to be a successful, socially adapted, emotionally regulated adult in Nigeria, not in the US? What does it mean to do that in Nigeria, and we learned a lot from that exercise. What we learned is, the skills that they thought were most important did not sound very much like the ones that we had been trying to promote. From the US context, the skills that teachers told us in northeast Nigeria that were the most important for children to learn were things like self discipline, obedience and tolerance, which is very different from terms like emotional regulation and conflict resolution. And at first, this was quite alarming to some of our colleagues in the US because words like obedience and discipline don't go down so well in the US context. And so, we had some people who didn't want to use those terms. Andi Simon: Forgive me for laughing, I'm holding back my laugh, because those aren't the right terms? How would they know? Well, they are who they are, and what they know. But I'm sitting here going, we can deny right? Britt Titus: So yeah, we had this little bit of a moment of tension where the local terms and the locally valued skills sounded very different from what had been promoted and studied in the Global North. And so what we did is, we actually did a mapping exercise where we try to understand: what did these words mean to you? We asked the teachers: What does it mean for a child to be obedient and have self discipline, what does that look like? And they told us things like: being able to focus on a task for a long period of time, being able to work well with other students in the classroom and not getting in fights. And it was all the same thing that we were trying to promote in the Global North, they just had completely different ways of talking about it. And that was a real breakthrough, because we realized that teachers were going to be far more interested in using an activity that promotes self discipline and obedience than one that promotes emotional regulation, a term that meant nothing to them. And it meant the same thing, it was promoting the same outcome. And we found as we tested, as we used more of this local framing, and more of this local content, the way we talked about the activities, how we talked about the benefits to the children of engaging with these, we saw more uptake. Teachers were more and more interested in using these activities. And it was almost like, finally, you've created something that's actually for our classrooms. And so we did this kind of iterative approach of working with, I think it was about 12 core teachers over a year, continually improving, adding more local content to the program, infusing these local framings, to the point where every single word we used throughout this program, from the training to the activity cards to the illustrations, were completely localized. And we saw really big improvements. And we just did a pilot study that ran for about six months, and found that on average, teachers have been using these activities for about 18 minutes a day, up from pretty much zero. So we're really excited about this progress. And, yeah, it seems to be the evidence so far showing that teachers are really excited and motivated to use these activities for the first time since we've been testing them, so just an example. Andi Simon: That's a big example. And for our listeners or viewers, think about what Britt is talking about. First, they are co-creating it with the end user. And the second thing is that words create the worlds we live in. And they are words that may sound like your words, but they don't have the same meaning. And the third part is that if you don't understand the story and what they're looking for in the behavior, as opposed to the words, you won't know what it is you're trying to actually achieve. And it becomes an interesting, I'll call it my aha moment, when you realize that we're trying to both do the same thing really well, but if we don't think of it from your perspective, you know, not mine, and it isn't what I do, it's what you need, how do I help you? It reframes the whole conversation and now we become a support team. And maybe that's not how you see it but our job is to be an enabler, a facilitator, a support team, and then watch what's actually happening and redirect it along, and we become collaborators and partners in transformation. That is a very exciting place to be, isn't it? Britt Titus: Yes, absolutely. I think you summarized it perfectly. Andi Simon: But your word humble is very important as well. Britt Titus: Yes, it's a mindset. But I think putting it into practice looks exactly like what you said. It is working extremely closely with the people that you're designing for. It's treating them as experts. It's co-creating with them at every step of the way. It's making sure that you are checking every assumption you have and everything down to the words and what they mean, and how they know what they mean, to people that might be different from the way you think about them. You know, I think all of those things are the practical applications of a humility mindset. And I think every project could benefit from that type of approach. Andi Simon: Well, what you're really doing is something very powerful because if you have 4000 folks out there who all think that they know better, and the folks are trying to help, don't, you can't go very far. I don't know if you know Judith Glaser's work on conversational intelligence and the power of neuroscience. She was an organizational anthropologist. The brain assuming they're all very much the same brains. When you say I the amygdala immediately fears, it flees, it hijacks it, it fights, it runs away from it, it just protects you. You're challenging me. But if we say we, all of a sudden: procreation, the trust, the oxytocin flows through your brain. We bond and if that's the way our minds work, regardless if you're in West Nigeria, or Lebanon, and we say the right words, however that said, and that doesn't necessarily mean we, but it is a different response for reasons that are good, but the mind isn't fighting you or fleeing you. It wants to know how, and that creates a behavioral sciences. An enormous power of transformation. As you're thinking, is there another illustrative case of things actually working? Britt Titus: Yeah, Absolutely, yeah. So I think another really exciting project we have been working on using a similar approach is in Mali. And one of the big problems that we're trying to address in Mali and other countries is severe acute childhood malnutrition. And so one of the big problems with trying to address childhood malnutrition is being able to detect it and diagnose it. And a lot of children don't get the treatment that they need because they never get diagnosed, and it's too late by the time that they are diagnosed, it's too late in their journey. And, it's too difficult to either bring them back or there's a lot of health morbidities that come with that. So, in rural areas, like in Mali, where we work, typically the place to get diagnosed is quite far away. Mothers and fathers tend to have to travel very, very far distances, hours a day, if they want to go visit a clinic. And so one of the kinds of solutions within the humanitarian space is to put the opportunity and responsibility of screening children in the hands of parents themselves. And so there's a tape that is given out to mothers which goes around a child's arm, upper arm, and can measure whether or not they're malnourished or not, with a red, yellow, green kind of traffic light type measurement. The problem is, if you are going to screen your own child for malnutrition, you have to do that every single month at least, sometimes every single week, in order to detect these small changes that can happen that you might not notice just by looking at your child if you see them every day. And so this is a behavior that is quite difficult. It's something that you have to do every single month, which is a very difficult timing to remember. I think, if you and I were told to do something every month for the next year, at some point in the month without a phone reminder, or an email calendar, notification, there's pretty much no way I remember to do that. And also, these mothers are expected to do a lot. They are cooking for the family, they are cleaning, they are sometimes working. And so, in terms of mental scarcity, and in terms of all the things that they're expected to remember and to do every day, it's pretty much impossible that they remember to do this. And so we've seen in areas where the majority of women were trained on this approach, very little, maybe a fifth of those women, ever use that tape to screen their own children for malnutrition, which is a big problem. So we wanted to understand why this is happening. What's going on? What is the reason why we're seeing so much kind of drop off after the training, and how can we encourage women to screen their children because ultimately, they want their children to be healthy and happy and to know if their children are experiencing malnutrition, so they can get help in time. So when we did this kind of exploratory phase, which we'd like to do, especially based on what we said earlier, we don't know a lot about the psychologies of women in rural Mali. And there are no papers out there that say how to encourage mothers in rural Mali to screen their own children for malnutrition. There's actually very little to go on. And if you were going to try and develop a reminder, which is a common behavioral science tool used across the world, if you were going to try and set that up, for example, in the US or the UK, you might send text message reminders, once a month. The problem is these women do not have their own phones, maybe they share a phone in the household. Even if there is a phone, they might not have a signal. Very often it might be in and out. And they might not have the ability to have phone data on a regular basis. So that's really not an option for us. And many of them are illiterate, meaning that even if we sent a text message, it would be very difficult for them to read it. So we had to come up with a way of reminding women in rural areas without using any technology or any kind of, you know, device or data which we often rely on. And, this is especially difficult in areas where these women have a different way of considering time and timekeeping than we would. There's no calendars in their home, there's not necessarily kind of the same way we would think about timing and marking days. And so we really have to understand how these women think about time. How do they remember to do the things that they already do? What are their existing things that they have to remember to do once a month or once a week? And how can we really leverage what they're already doing and the way they already consider time and piggyback onto that. And so we did a lot of testing with these women over and over again, going back and back and forth to this region of Mali, and testing and prototyping and showing them examples, which was really fun and they really enjoyed being able to rank different ideas and give us feedback, and they were very honest with us. One of our ideas was, should we get a little device that goes off once a month, a little beeper? They very confidently said, Well, where are we going to get the batteries for that? That's a silly idea. And so they were very, very helpful in that co-creation. process. And I think we've found across projects that the more time you spend with the user group, the more you build trust, and the more honest answers you start getting. It's not always the case at the beginning. So really investing in those relationships, and seeing the same women over and over again, was very, very helpful for the project, to really get the nitty gritty out of the context and their lived experience. And so what we ended up finding out is that many of these women are in these informal women's savings groups. So they meet about once a month, with other women, and they pool their savings. And we were like, Great, well, you're already doing this thing once a month. And so we thought, Well, what happens if we piggybacked on that, and we encourage women to bring their children to these meetings once a month, and they can all screen together, which would be socially reinforcing. You'd be seeing other women doing it. It would be the reminder to you and have the ease of doing it there when everyone else is doing it, and you have support of other women if you're not quite sure, if you're getting the right reading especially if you are holding a wiggly child on your lap and trying to get their arm to hold still is, is an impossible feat on its own. So we tested this out, and they really, really loved it. So we got really positive feedback. And we're able to continue iterating on that idea, and kind of create the social network reminder that came out of months and months of spending time with a population understanding their lived reality that we would have never known had we tried to come up with a solution and implemented in the first few weeks, that took months of getting to know the population before we're able to find that kind of sweet spot between what they're already doing, and what also meets the needs of the program. So we've also just run a pilot study on that and found really promising results from that activity. And women are really excited about using those groups with other women to screen their children for malnutrition. Andi Simon: We don't have to talk now about what they do if they find out if they are malnourished. But that's another piece of this, but I think that the power of the group is fascinating for Westerners who think about isolation. And families having new grandparents here. There's a great bunch of articles that just came out on the power of the grandparent and that the nature of society and smallest scale societies is very much about each other, about a collaboration. Even if you live in isolation, you need the others to help you save, take care of your kids, and know-how and doing it together. It's much more exciting and fun, and something purposeful, in your mind, as opposed to simply tactical and practical. Yes, it was tactical and practical. Take the measurement, and you'll know. Britt Titus: Much better to have that kind of social accountability and to have that reminding point, and to know that other women are going through the same thing, which also can help a lot with stigma and norms as well. So we believe that can also be a kind of an intervention that picks up momentum, as people start to see that this is the new norm, and start to see others doing it more often. Andi Simon: I think you'll probably have a bunch of detours along the journey. I don't think there's a destination per se. But I think the other part you might find is that there'll be self-appointed leaders who begin to take ownership of this and who now feel a responsibility to the group, casual, informal leaders, who now talk to each other in a way that they can see the benefits and then it becomes contagious. It's so interesting because it doesn't matter whether it's here in the States or anywhere else, humans are fascinating. And if you don't pause for a moment and see through their eyes and how to do it, you can't go anywhere, even if we know where we need to go, it won't get there. And then they're the problem, but they're not the problem. You're the problem. Actually, you're not the problem, either. The problem is a problem. Then the question is, how can we get past it to find some solutions that are clever and creative and innovative? There's a book called, The Secret of our Success. It's a wonderful book about how human evolution has happened. You and I both love to look back to go forward. But it's because of our collective brains. And what you're describing as a collective brain, not an isolated one. The isolates didn't do very well, they didn't survive very well. But together, we can do far better, in the shareables, and you will almost probably become part of the shareables. You are no longer the outsiders but part of the insider. This is such fun. You and I could talk for a while. We've probably taken our listeners' and viewers' time up, but I so enjoy the opportunity to share your sharing with us. And I can't thank you enough for doing that. The organization: would you like to share a little bit more about the work that you're doing at the IRC? And how people might find out more about it? And why it should be important for them, please? Britt Titus: Absolutely, yes. So the IRC is also speaking of looking back in time, quite an old organization. So it was actually set up in 1933, at the request of Albert Einstein to support the Germans who were suffering under Hitler's regime, and also eventually refugees from Mussolini's Italy, and Franco's Spain. And so this organization has been around for a long time, and has also had many iterations. And so yeah, now we're a large organization, as I mentioned, serving around 40 different countries around the world. And within that organization, we have the Airbelt Impact Lab, which is our research and innovation, part of the organization. And so within that team, we're really focused on trying to create breakthrough solutions in the areas of malnutrition, which I've mentioned, education, and emergencies, which I've also mentioned, women's health, and climate resilience and adaptation for the future climate shocks and current climate shocks that are disproportionately affecting people in humanitarian contexts. So those are the main areas that we are focusing on with our innovation, behavioral science, human-centered design, and all of these different approaches. And so I welcome everyone to have a look at our website, which is the Airbelt Impact Lab website, which I think you can probably share with people. It's airbelt.rescue.org, to read about some of the projects we've been working on and see how you can support it if you're interested in being involved. Andi Simon: Don't you love it! You have found your calling. It is so beautiful. Thank you, I don't know where your journey is going to take you, but thank you for sharing it today. And for all of our listeners and viewers, thank you for sharing our podcasts with your network and wherever you can. As I mentioned, we are now in the top 5% of global podcasts. It's truly an honor and a privilege to be able to find great people like Britt to share with you and then you take it from there. If you've got folks you want us to interview, info@Andisimon.com is just how you can reach us. And SimonAssociates.net is our website. My books are available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. And they continue to be best sellers and award winners and having fun. My next book comes out next September 2023 and I will tell you all about it when it happens. But for now, I want to wish you a safe and happy journey wherever life is taking you. And please enjoy yourself for every day is a gift. And we have to leave it like that. And Britt is doing some marvelous work. Go look at her website and take a look at how you might be able to help her or at least learn from what she's doing. The messaging is very important. She is helping you see, feel, and think in new ways. And that's what we're here to help you do. So on that note, I'm going to sign off and say goodbye. Thanks for it.

Pamela Brooks-Richards on the Danger of Dissonance in the Workplace (Ep 125)

trust business leadership management innovation philadelphia mba partnership blind volunteers pricing optimizing c suite online courses chief financial officers drexel university jefferson university judith glaser lebow college

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2023 37:43

Do you know how to improve your own sense of motivation? Why are some people more motivated than others? Is it possible to become more intrinsically motivated over time? What do we do when our potential doesn't seem to be matching up to our outcomes?In this week's episode, Denise Cooper interviews Pamela Brooks-Richards for how we can use neuroscience research on motivation to move closer towards work that lights us up. Brene Brown points out that dissonance is the opposite of integrity. Emotions like shock and anger are quick-burning emotions, with a short-half life. Meanwhile, dissonance will not disperse from our emotional landscape until it is dealt with. Join us as we deep dive into Get It Done by Sam Bennet and Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown. If you're wondering how to understand what motivates you in the working world, this is the episode for you.THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWHow do we create motivation? [10:25]What role does the mindset we have towards a task play in our ability to get it done? [14:07]People say never share your goals with others. Is this good advice?[17:48]Why do we have to be careful about who gives us feedback?[22:24]What is dissonance and why is it dangerous to workers? [28:58]KEEP UP WITH PAMELA BROOKS RICHARDShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccessEPISODE RESOURCESJoin the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Community NowVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or reviewGUEST BIOPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser. Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of people to create workshops and experiences that can create transformational performance breakthroughs for both individuals and teams. She loves all the work coming out of neuroscience today and what actually leads to better performers and what helps us enjoy life to the fullest.She has presented...

university spotify washington heart emotions workplace danger dare google podcasts richards brene brown bren brown asu get it done dissonance conversational intelligence certified facilitators judith glaser denise cooper sam bennet hereinterested bren brown's dare

Partnerships and Communication

Speaking to Influence

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2023 33:07

This week Christine Ostrowski shares how an almost two hundred year old school is continually adapting to improve the lives of their students and team. By treating employees like clients to understand what they need to give every resource possible to their students, everyone wins. Here are a few things that you will learn in this episode: How being on a dragon boat team can prepare for successful teamwork. Making sure that you take the time to pause and work on your relationships. Trust brings value. Understanding the importance of a discovery meeting to prevent jumping to conclusions. Creating a mission driven environment where leaders are committed to creating a better tomorrow. During the 24-Hour Influence Challenge, Christine challenges the listeners to volunteer. How do you start? Christine recommends visiting volunteermatch.org. Book recommendation: Christine mentions in the podcast “Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust & Get Extraordinary Results” by Judith Glaser. About Christine Ostrowski: Christine Ostrowski is the Chief Financial Officer for Overbrook School for the Blind. Christine is passionate about quality education experience for all students, including students with specialized educational needs. Christine has focused on non-profit finance in the education sector for over a decade. She has worked in higher education, public education and private education. Christine collaborates with other leaders in historical institutions in innovations to streamline the administration of schools. Optimizing the finance and operations of schools frees up resources to focus on instructional programming. Innovations include the delivery of on-line education, enrollment strategies, enterprise resource management solutions and budget management. Christine holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Jefferson University. She received her MBA in entrepreneurship and innovation from Drexel University's Lebow College of Business. Christine also has completed certificate programs at the MIT Sloane School of Management in Mastering Design Thinking and Pricing. Christine and her husband Steve have two children in their young adult years and live in the Philadelphia area. You can connect with Christine in the following ways: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-ostrowski/ LinkedIn Business Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/overbrook-school-for-the-blind/ Facebook Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/OverbrookSchoolfortheBlind/ Twitter Business Page: https://twitter.com/OverbrookSFTB Instagram Business Page: https://www.instagram.com/overbrookschoolfortheblind/ Website: https://www.obs.org/ You can connect with Laura in the following ways: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlaurasicola LinkedIn Business Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vocal-impact-productions/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VocalImpactProductions Facebook: Vocal Impact Productions Twitter: @LauraSicola Instagram: @VocalImpactProductions Website: https://vocalimpactproductions.com/ Laura's Online Course: virtualinfluence.today See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pamela Brooks-Richards on how to build goals that motivate change instead of causing shame (Ep 122)

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2023 35:50

Do you know how to build goals that motivate instead of shame? As we start the new year, we've been talking about the importance of gratitude when it comes to setting goals for 2023. Goal-setting can often have an unfortunate effect on people, with many developing habits of setting unrealistic goals and spiraling into feelings of shame when they don't achieve them.In this episode, Pamela Brooks-Richards talks about the importance of leading with joy and integrity to create a more grateful space for ourselves and those around us. When we operate from a place of integrity, we strengthen our self-esteem and resolve (plus, we get a pretty sweet dopamine rush in the process!)If you are looking for ways of allowing your values to guide your actions and goal-setting, this is the episode for you. By incorporating these practices into our daily lives, we can build the habits necessary to achieve our goals and live a life of integrity and purpose.THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat's your superpower? [03:51]What is the importance of gratitude when it comes to setting goals in 2023? [04:14]Why are values more important than goals when it comes to New Years' Resolutions? [13:44]KEEP UP WITH PAMELA BROOKS RICHARDShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccessEPISODE RESOURCESJoin the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Community NowVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or reviewPAMELA BROOKS RICHARDS BIOPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser.Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of people to create workshops and experiences that can create transformational performance breakthroughs for both individuals and teams. She loves all the work coming out of neuroscience today and what actually leads to better performers and what helps us enjoy life to the fullest.She has presented to large groups, such as the Philip 66 – International Conference and Baxter Asia Pacific's International Strategic Thinking Workshop in...

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Pamela Brooks-Richards on creating lasting culture change (Ep. 119)

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2022 37:32

94% of respondents in a recent study by Bamboo HR think that culture is the most important thing in an organization. Many executives think that if their organization has a good culture, it will result in higher productivity. But when it comes down to it, do we know what "good culture" really is? Can we put our finger on it? "When you start diving into what workplace culture really is, you're going to hear things like, well, it's the way that assignments are rolled out. Are they fair or not fair to everybody? What are the opportunities for advancement, and how do we go about that process? How do employees collaborate?" This week's episode is part of a series where Denise Cooper interviews Pamela Brooks Richards for her take on what it takes to really steer culture change at an organization. If you've been wondering how to THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWIf you're an executive or an entrepreneur and you're dealing with both people who are working for you, or vendors, etc - how do you make decisions on how you're going to decide what the priorities are? [05:41]How do you help organizations think through unifying subcultures within their organization to be a more united front? [09:47]How do we know we have a culture that doesn't have a growth mindset? [16:05]What would you say to an executive who says "We really don't have money for this culture stuff"? [27:29]KEEP UP WITH PAMELA BROOKS RICHARDSLinkedinEPISODE RESOURCESJoin the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Community NowVisit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons SiteGot questions? Send them hereInterested in being a guest? Schedule an introduction call!Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, and leave us a rating or review.GUEST BIOPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser. Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of people to create workshops and experiences that can create transformational performance breakthroughs for both individuals and teams. She loves all the work...

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Pamela Brooks-Richards on how judgment informs strategic decision-making (Ep. 110)

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2022 31:31

Do you know your own process for decision-making? ? Do you know how judgment shows up in your thought process? Judgment is human, we don't (yet) live in an AI world, where all decisions are powered by data and statistics. Instead, we're synthesizing information ourselves, often through the lenses of emotion, bias, and past experiences. When you're coming up with solutions to a challenge - do you go with the first solution you come up with? Or do you tend to brainstorm and weigh multiple options? This is an example of practical decision-making strategies. If you're wondering how to positively understand and leverage the judgments you make in strategic decision-making, this is the episode for you. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat role does judgment play in our decision-making at work? [3:30] System bias, people bias, and processing bias all play a role in our decision-making. What does that mean? [9:50] When you're a leader, every suggestion you make is going to be picked up by someone in the room as an action item. How do you set clear expectations with your team to avoid unintended workflows?[14:22] If I'm a leader and I want to understand anything from succession planning, hiring, risk assessments, etc - how do I get better at this? [22:00] KEEP UP WITH PAMELA BROOKS-RICHARDSLinkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccsuccess/ EPISODE RESOURCEShttps://remarkable-leadership-lessons.mn.co/plans/221111?bundle_token=4b95ffe2499218bea24341d2cab48999&utm_source=manual (Join the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Community Now) https://rllessons.com/ (Visit the Remarkable Leadership Lessons Site) Got questions? Send them here Interested in being a guest? https://calendly.com/denisecooperspeaks/podcast-overview-referral (Schedule an introduction call)! Subscribe on https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1453921255?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=lt_p (Apple Podcasts), https://open.spotify.com/show/52hAJHuGUXlyhKuOyuon3U (Spotify), or https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vY2xvc2luZy10aGUtZ2FwLw (Google Podcasts), and leave us a rating or review GUEST BIOPam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and team building. She appreciates her many opportunities to work with others and being a part of their discovery process, including running Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program as a Certified Facilitator and running Conversational Intelligence™ by Judith Glaser. Pam's passion for performance grew throughout her athletic career and playing volleyball for the University of Washington. She studied organizational and interpersonal development in her first masters and counseling in her second. She uses her assessment tools and understanding of people to create workshops and experiences that can create transformational performance breakthroughs for both individuals and teams. She loves all the work coming out of neuroscience today and what actually leads to better performers and what helps us enjoy life to the fullest. She has presented to large groups, such as the Philip 66 – International Conference and Baxter Asia Pacific's International Strategic Thinking Workshop in Shanghai. She has facilitated large groups in Dare to Lead ™ and been a part of the smaller conferences such as BADD, 101 Black Women's Coalition, and ASU's Commission on the Status of Women and is a Master SPARK facilitator for ASU. In her spare time, she loves to riding her bike, hiking, sailing and even playing a bit of golf now with her husband.

326: Rohini Anand—Can Businesses Create Cultures Based On True Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

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Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2022 30:39

Hear how to really live diversity, equity and inclusion This was a very special podcast with Dr. Rohini Anand, a global strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) leader. A published author, Dr. Anand's new book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations, sets the stage for her own journey as a pioneer in DEI and a woman helping global companies transform their organizations, one person at a time. You are going to enjoy learning from Dr. Anand. Open your notebooks, iPads or computers and get ready to capture the innovations, the insights and the impact she is making, and which you can as well. I just love women who are changing the world! Watch and listen to our conversation here Rohini's 5 principles for truly bringing about DEI change: The first principle: Make it local. Global change has to be anchored in an understanding of the local context. It has to be rooted in the local particulars informed by the history, the culture, the language and mores of each place. The second: Leaders change to lead change. And we know very well that commitment from senior leadership is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that the DEI is sustained. The third: It's good business to institute DEI, and without a compelling reason for change. We all know 70% of change efforts fail. But there's reasons this sort of change narrative has to be congruent with the organization's purpose and how business is done. The fourth: Go deep, wide, and inside out. Organizations are interconnected systems that work in concert with each other. DEI needs to be infused in the internal processes and systems and externally, so you have to take a systems approach. And the fifth principle: Know what matters and counter. Metrics clearly provide a global framework, a cohesive narrative to spotlight problem areas and solutions. To be instruments for change, they've got to have the right metrics, and you've got to hold your teams accountable. To contact Rohini, go to LinkedIn and Twitter, email her at rohinianand1121@gmail.com and visit her website www.rohinianand.com. Want to know more about DEI and culture change? Start here Blog: How's Your Culture? Doing Fine Or In Drastic Need Of An Overhaul? Blog: How Storytelling Can Transform Your Culture And Energize Your Team Podcast: Kim Graham Lee—How To Build A Culture Where Men And Women Truly Support Each Other Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. As you know, I'm your host and your guide. And I've started to tell people on our podcast a little bit more about me, because they keep asking, Who are you? So I'm a corporate anthropologist, and I've specialized for most of my career helping organizations and the people inside them change. And you must recognize that people hate change, your brains would just as soon I go away. But the podcast came about after my book, On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights, was published and won an award. And my second book just won an award as well, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business. I'm honored to be able to share with you my insights into how people can change, and particularly how corporate cultures must change. So today's guest is a very special woman. I can't wait to share her with you: Rohini Anand. I met Rohini through the Women Business Collaborative, where I'm a member, and she is as well. I read her new book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations. Rohini has a wonderful perspective. I'm going to tell you a little bit about her and then let her tell you about her own journey. But remember, our job is to help you see, feel and think in some new ways so you can do something. And the questions around diversity, equity and inclusion are profound. I cannot tell you how many CEOs have said to me, it took me three months to hire some people to diversify my culture. They only lasted three months. And I said, Okay, we have a bigger question here about what is your culture? And why should people belong to it? And humans want to belong. So here's Rohini's background. She is a strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expert, highly sought-after board member, a published author and speaker. She is recognized as a pioneer in DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and has been on the forefront of leading businesses through lasting change for corporations, not for nonprofit organizations and government agencies worldwide. She was previously senior vice president of corporate responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo. And under her leadership, the Sodexo brand became synonymous with leadership in diversity, corporate responsibility and wellness. And I have a hunch she's going to tell you a little bit about her journey. But I'm excited because both in her book and in her work, she's actually making things happen. And for all of you who are wondering, How do you make DEI happen?, you need to listen carefully because this is what's happening. And now the question is, how can we share it so you can do it as well? Rohini, thank you for joining me today. Rohini Anand: Thank you. I'm delighted to be with you, Andi. And looking forward to the conversation. Andi Simon: Let's begin, who is Rohini? What's been your journey? Share it with the listeners, they love the stories. Rohini Anand: Yeah, as you know, anyone involved in diversity, equity and inclusion work, this book is very personal for them. And my story is integral to who I am. I actually grew up in Mumbai, India, and growing up in India, almost everyone sort of looked like me. It is a country with a lot of diversity, many socio-economic classes, religions, ethnicities, languages, etc. I belong to the majority religion, Hinduism, and surrounded by others like me. I had the privilege of not having to think about my identity. So I moved to the United States as a teenager, and went to graduate school. And that really was my inflection point in my both literal and metaphorical journey. And I have to say that my identity shifted from being a person who saw herself as the center of her world to being a foreigner to being an immigrant to being a minority, and I was totally unprepared for that. So it was only when I was identified as a minority did I realize the privileges that came with being part of a majority. I was part of the majority growing up in India, but I had not recognized my privilege in that way. And honestly, I was unable to until I was perceived as a minority and I experienced things differently. So the realization that identity is situational is fluid and informs the research that I did for my PhD and still informs my work. So I would say that this vocation is very personal to me, understanding what it means to be perceived as a minority, as an outsider, is very much at the heart of diversity, equity and inclusion work. And I am fortunate that my vocation and my avocation are perfectly aligned. So it's a little bit about my journey to the work that I do today. I continue to do this work. You're right, I worked for Sodexo for 18 years. And we were hired from Sodexo in 2020, just before COVID hit, was the time to write my book. And since then I've been doing booktalks, strategic coaching and advising, and I'm on several boards, but I continue to do this work that's so meaningful to me. It is part of who I am. Andi Simon: Well, being who you are, when you were at Sodexo, I have a hunch you explored and learned a great deal about the challenges of building a diverse culture, particularly a global one. Now is that a good place for us to start to talk about the learnings that went on there because it was very profound. You went from India, I've been to India, it's quite a complicated place. And coming here, discovering a culture that had a different attitude, different values, everything about you being here was different. And somehow you had to find a way of belonging, and humans want to belong. Some of the insights that came from the Sodexo experience would be really helpful, I think, to our listeners. Rohini Anand: So Andi, when I joined Sodexo, there was a fairly serious lawsuit. And I didn't quite understand or really recognize the seriousness of that lawsuit until about six months after I was hired, when it was certified as a class action lawsuit that was settled for over $80 million. It was a discrimination lawsuit filed by African Americans in the company. And I share that because you know what I say in the book, and the journey really was from class action to best in class. So that was the sort of situation that I stepped into. But with the support of leadership, we were able to change the culture around and became known for leadership and diversity, equity and inclusion in the United States. And then it was a question of scaling this work globally. So what I found was that doing this global DEI work is very complex. It's very dynamic. There's no checklist, there's no playbook, I don't even think any best practices are adequate. But there were these five principles that showed up each time when I did the work that are absolutely critical. And they provide a true line. Each of the principles is simple. It's a simple statement. It's based on my experiences, but also experiences of my colleagues who've done the heavy lifting in their organizations. They're simple, but they're disruptive. And they don't provide any sort of standards, the plug and play templates based on what's worked in the US, because that's been a foundational mistake—to replicate what works in one part of the world, in other parts of the world. So these principles can be applied with sensitivity to any culture, and really empower global leaders to develop their own solutions, not to mimic any one experience, but really develop their own solutions. So the principles are, and this is what I think is absolutely foundational in doing this culture change work, because it is about transformation, it's about culture change. The first step is make it local. And global change has to be anchored in an understanding of the local context. It has to be rooted in the local particulars informed by the history, the culture, the language and mores of each place. We have to consider the power dynamics, identify those that are the subordinate and not subordinate in dominant groups, identify how identity is defined, how it's expressed. But understanding doesn't mean accepting the status quo. Because outside influence can be cancerous for change. They can raise issues that those within a culture may not be able to see. Like, I was not able to see my own privilege, because of power dynamics. But this works best when local change agents are empowered to partner with outside influencers. So it's about pushing the status quo, disrupting and pushing for change, but doing it with an understanding of the local context. The second is what I call leaders change to lead change. And we know very well that commitment from senior leadership is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that the DEI is sustained. And when leaders embrace the DEI with authentic purpose and passion, the organization goes from performative action to sustainable progress. So leaders really need to internalize the benefit of doing it to themselves personally, and to the organization, that often requires the destruction of their worldview, and the painful work of introspection. And this happens often through stories, not necessarily data. But I think it's important as leaders do seek out these disruptive experiences as they take ownership of their own learning, and be mindful of the toll that it takes for people with those lived experiences to share the experiences again and again and again. And so it takes leaders who intentionally prioritize the DEI as they would any other business imperative. So that's the second principle: leaders change lead change. The third is: it's good business to, and without a compelling reason for change. We all know 70% of change efforts fail. But there's reasons this sort of change narrative has to be congruent with the organization's purpose and how business is done. The fourth principle is: go deep, wide, and inside out. And that really speaks to the fact that organizations are interconnected systems that work in concert with each other. And DEI needs to be infused in the internal processes and systems and externally, so you have to take a systems approach. And then the last one, the fifth principle is: know what matters and counter. And metrics clearly provide a global framework, a cohesive narrative to spotlight problem areas and solutions. And to be instruments for change, they've got to have the right metrics, and you've got to hold your teams accountable. So make local leaders change to lead change. And it's good business to go deep, wide and inside out and know what matters. These five principles I think are absolutely critical to any change. Andi Simon: Well, I love your principles. They are very much congruent with the culture change work that we do. But there are some things I'd like to dig a little deeper into, because the leader changing the way they see diversity, and equity and inclusion are essential. They're the leader. The question is, how do you get them to change? Remember, we live the story in our minds. If we don't collaborate with our mind, our mind does exactly what it thinks we want it to do. And so the research on the mind is so compelling. Now, the question is, how do we get leaders to change that story, so that it isn't the outsider who you're bringing in sort of gratuitously, the outsider is essential to the growth of the organization, and how we now build a culture where we value that diversity as opposed to want to eliminate it, or control it or put it into a certain box. The thing that always worries me, having been an executive in two banks, you said you tend to bring in the diversity and put them into buckets where they belong. And they were sort of a stereotype of what kind of jobs they should hold, and where those people should be. And that by itself wasn't diversity, or equity or inclusion. It was a different way of building mosaics, which wasn't particularly good. Share with us. And I'm particularly interested in, How do I start with the leader? Because I think that's where we have to start. Rohini Anand: You're absolutely right, we do have to start there. Let me share two quick stories. So you know, one story is about a particular leader who mentored a woman who is part of the organization, and she managed high security facilities. And after mentoring her, he came to me and he said, "If you had presented me with two candidates, a male and a female, and asked me to hire the best qualified candidate for a high security facility, I would have chosen the man because you need an aggressive, assertive leadership style. So it's a dangerous environment, I would never have chosen the woman." But he says, after having mentored this woman, who's extremely effective, "She has a different leadership style. And she is very effective. She gets the assignment. I will never let an unconscious bias impact my talent decisions again." So I think that's the story of basically providing leaders with disruptive experiences that help to shake their worldview, provide them a different perspective, expose them to people who are not necessarily like themselves, in this case, a woman with a different leadership style, so that they can actually do this work of introspection and emerge in a way that really shifts their perspective, their thinking, their worldview. We don't know what we don't know. So this leader was able to internalize that experience. The other story that I have is a leader who listened to all these stories about diversity, equity and inclusion and was not buying. I had some Sodexo specific data, but he was not necessarily convinced. He got involved in a cross-company mentoring program along with other CEOs. He wanted to network with other CEOs and this was networking on the topic of diversity and he mentored a woman from a different organization and developed a trusting relationship with her. She got laid off, and she had discussed and shared with him her lived experiences being marginalized, being discriminated against as the only woman on the executive team, and he listened with sort of this newfound interest. And he came to me and he said, "I just cannot believe that women have these kinds of experiences in the workplace. She was the only woman on her executive team." He said, "This is unacceptable. I want all 12 of my direct reports to mentor a woman from a different part of the organization." So they did, and of the 12 women that were mentored/sponsored, because it wasn't just mentoring, these were senior executives who actually sponsored these women, nine out of the 12 got senior positions, either as country heads, or heads of large pieces of business. Now, again, it took the lived experiences of this woman. It came close to home, he developed a relationship with her. He listened to her, and it was her lived experiences that helped to shift his perspective. So I think storytelling and lived experiences can be very beneficial. But I will caution that it is very tiring for those that have experienced these lived experiences to share them again and again and again. And we have to really maximize the impact of those lived experiences. But also, leaders have to take responsibility for their own learning at the end of the day. So I think those are sort of two stories. I have one more if you have time. Andi Simon: I'm a storyteller. And I think that what you capture in the story, that you said that the leaders have to change their leadership. And the question is, Okay, how do I do that? And experiential learning is where we learn best. You can't learn from a book and you can't learn from listening to me. What is it you really mean? How does that really feel? Another story? Rohini Anand: So this story is actually the CEO, previous year, to Excel. And globally, as you know, most companies focus on gender just because race and ethnicity translates very differently in different parts of the world. It doesn't translate in many parts of the world. And this was a Frenchman in France. The word "race" was actually struck from the French constitution in 2018, for historical reasons. So when we started talking about ethnicity and race, he said to me, "Why dilute the focus on gender by bringing in all these other strands of diversity, because race doesn't translate in France, it doesn't translate in many parts of Europe." And he was right. And so I realized that I needed to expand his worldview. And to do that, I invited him to an employee resource group meeting by the African American employee resource group in the United States. He attended that meeting, one of maybe two French men who were at that meeting, one of the only white men at the meeting. He listened to the lived experiences, particularly of the Black men, Black leaders in that meeting. And it was very moving, because now he knew these people, again, these stories came close to home. He listened to the experiences outside and within the organization, so that listening to the lived experiences, combined with his experience of being a minority, was very disruptive for him. And he went on after the murder of George Floyd to send this really heartfelt message to the organization, something he wouldn't have done under normal circumstances, and in succession planning meetings and talent review discussions. Yes, you cannot gather data about people's race and ethnicity in Europe, but nothing, no one stops you from asking the questions. So when individuals say, "We have diversity, we have Belgians, and we have folks from the Netherlands and from Switzerland and Austria, and Germany," the question would be, "That's wonderful. And how many of them are Black people?" So he was able to ask those questions. Again, it was a very disruptive experience for him. And what's wonderful is, many of these leaders have gone on to other organizations and have taken this secessionist connection, this learning that they've had, and become allies and started to bring about the culture change in the other organizations. Andi Simon: You are alluding to something very important. Two things I want to talk about. People are copycats, and they need to see others. You can call them role models, but unless somebody who they can admire is doing something differently, they would just as soon move away from it, hijack it and not be the solo solitary leader there. So building that base is important. Rohini Anand: If I can just add to that, you're absolutely right, Andi. And when he talks about this notion of belonging, we often say an employee's sense of belonging to the culture of an organization, but there's another dimension of belonging. And that dimension of belonging is the need for a leader and organization to belong to an elite group of companies that are committed to DEI. So I want to identify with other companies that are seen as diversity elite companies and want to be part of that. There's this desire to belong to other organizations that are seen as having credibility. Andi Simon: Because they feed off each other. Because the contagion is a healthy one, because if I'm doing it, and they're doing it, somehow together, the whole ship rises. But if I'm doing it alone, that's a long road home all by myself, solitary. It's very challenging. The other side of what you were talking about, though, I experienced as a woman, and I am not a woman of color, although I have a niece who's biracial, and we talk all the time about the challenges of being different. I was an executive in a bank, and I went to a board meeting, and there were 49 men, a nun and me. I didn't say anything. And for many years, I was the sole woman on any executive team. And the challenge for a woman in that story is how to navigate what role to play. We're role players, I often think of life as theater. And I remember changing the conversations. I learned new ways of behaving, how to dress, how to perform, particularly when you are in a room of mostly men, and you are not exactly being asked anything to contribute. I can't tell you how many times I was the only or among the few. And I do think it's changing. And I'm glad that I can date myself. But the other thing is, how do you advise or counsel those who are now being brought in to diversify? The gentleman I mentioned who spent three months recruiting a woman of color to join his organization and they only stayed three months was angry at her for not belonging. And I said to him, "Why is it her problem? And a combination? It's not your problem or her problem? You brought her into a place that wasn't welcoming, where there was nobody who looked like her. How are you going to change this? And what is the role of the person being anointed with this diversity banner to have to come in and do something for you?" Some advice or experiences, stories to share? Rohini Anand: In terms of being the only, and you know, I think a woman of color is the double only, which is the other piece, as a woman and as a woman of color. And I think you're right, I think very often, when you are the only one, it's difficult to speak up. I do think that is what helps a lot, is if you can get allies and male allies within the room. So having the conversations outside to find out who can be an ally, who can amplify your voice, who can say when you talk, "That will work." Who can say, "We haven't heard from Rohini yet, perhaps we should hear what she has to contribute." Those kinds of allies I think are really important. It's sort of a double edged sword, because in a sense, usually the allies are the ones who have the power, the ones with the dominant group are white males. So in a sense, we're asking someone to validate us as women, aren't we. And the other side of it is, in some senses, you're using their power to upend their power. So there's two sides to this. And I think it has to be used strategically, but I think allies are one piece. I think the other piece of advice that I would give is, just be true to who you are, you have to be authentic. I think imitating someone else's leadership style or a male style does not work because it does us a disservice. I think being authentic is absolutely critical. And I think the third piece is, before you can join an organization, do research, because an organization that is not welcoming of someone who looks like you doesn't deserve you. So do your research. And if you need to, walk away. There are other options that you have, particularly today with the talent shortages. So I think that organizations will have to change in order to provide a welcoming environment. I have millennial daughters, and you know, I know numerous people who have walked away from organizations because they didn't see someone like themselves. And they didn't think that it was a female friendly organization. Andi Simon: Well, as I'm listening to you, it's not a bad time to think about wrapping up because you and I could talk for a long time about this. And I know you can with great expertise. I think that the times are changing, and I'd like our listeners to walk away from Rohini and take away two or three things that you think they should focus on. And you have your principles, I like them. I love the fact that we're talking about how to make them actionable principles, but what do you actually do if you're going to do it local, what would be the top two or three things that they should remember, because I want them to do something when they leave. Rohini Anand: So I think the one piece of change really happens at the intersection of people and processes, and you have to impact both. So I would encourage, on the personal level, to see how you can be an ally for others regardless of who they are in the organization. And then I would say, look at how you can dismantle those processes that are tenacious, that have advantages for some and have created disadvantages for others. So, work both the people and the process piece. And then I think this power of storytelling is amazing. Even in terms of bringing along allies, I think it's really important, but I think, use those stories with discretion because of the toll it takes on those that have lived experiences. But you know, work at the intersection of people and processes would be my one big takeaway. Andi Simon: Where can they find both you and your book, to reach you? Rohini Anand: Thank you so much. So my website is www.rohini.com. And my book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is available on Amazon, and all of the other major outlets. Also you can order it through my website. Andi Simon: It's a great book. It's great to read it. I want to add one last thought to our listeners. If you don't know Judith Glaser's work on conversational intelligence, go take a look at it. Judith was an observational, an organizational anthropologist who passed away a couple of years ago, but when she was doing neuroscience work, she said something very profound. If you say, "I'm the brain," it gets full of cortisol and flies away from it, it becomes a battleground. It's a threat. But if you say, "We, the oxytocin, the bonding hormones, really make love there." So as you're thinking about this, diversity, equity, inclusion is about us. And if you start talking about what we can do together, it's a much healthier environment for us to actually do it, the bonding that happens. It is natural for the brain. And so don't underestimate the power of the body to respond to the way you're talking and the conversations that we're having today, around how do we build a better world where people are part of a larger organization that can all together rise, and do better together because they care about each other. And I can't tell you what a pleasure it's been to have you here today. Thank you. Rohini. Rohini Anand: Thank you, Andi. This is wonderful. Andi Simon: So I'll wrap up for my listeners and my viewers. My audience is terrific. You've put us in the top 5% of podcasts globally. Thank you so much. And you send me great people to interview which I just enjoy tremendously. And my job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways to do something that you hate to do: embrace change. These are changing times. Please open up and try to do it with great joy. Bye bye now. Have a great day. Thank you.

covid-19 united states ceo amazon black europe france french germany phd diversity leaders open african americans george floyd ceos businesses equity inclusion netherlands switzerland ipads austria dei excel women in business cultures belgians mumbai hinduism diversity equity human development anand frenchman new heights diversity equity and inclusion take your business systemic change sodexo dei diversity rohini your culture global chief diversity officer judith glaser andi simon rohini anand brink a fresh lens

Relieving the Pain in Medicine

Myth, Magic, Medicine

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2022 37:27

In this episode I chat with personal friend, Dr. Judith Glaser a Board Certified Physiatrist and a Certified Medical Acupuncturist. After graduating from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005, Dr. Glaser completed her residency at New York University School of Medicine - RUSK Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. She took additional training at the Helms Medical Institute in Acupuncture. She has been in clinical practice both inpatient and outpatient for13 years but very recently transitioned to a non clinical role in health care and we talk about that journey. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward CME credits click here to claim credit

316: Rose Fass—The Most Important Conversation Is The One You Have With Yourself

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2022 46:04

Hear how to really think about the conversations you're having What if you could see the world through a fresh lens? In today's podcast, I interview Rose Fass, an author, a business executive, and an inspiration to me and to you. Rose has written one book and is on her way with her next one. Her first book, The Chocolate Conversation, focuses on how our conversations become who we are, what we hear, and how we build relationships. Great conversations help us craft clear messages, build a shared worldview, uncover concerns and uncertainties, and help you and others move forward together. As you listen to Rose and her own personal journey, you are going to rethink your own conversations, paying attention to both what you say and what others reflect on your thoughts. Listen in because there is so much to learn! Watch and listen to our conversation here Learning the lesson of resilience from a dandelion Rose tells the story of being a nine-year-old girl, walking home from school with her friends, a bit frustrated like adolescents often are. Her father was a WWII marine and a poet. That day, she saw him picking dandelions out of the lawn. Seeing her, he turned around and smiled and showed her one of the flowers, asking, “Rose, what do you see?” Not knowing what answer he was looking for, she responded, “I don't know Dad. I see a dandelion.” He said, “Yes, but I want you to look deeper and wider. Look beyond the obvious.” Rose asked him: “What do you see?” He paused, looked at her, and said, “I see the end of a long winter. I see the dawning of a new season. I see lovers walking hand in hand exchanging silent expressions of their love. I see children picking these out of the lawns and handing them to their moms.” He went on: “Rose, we, like many homeowners, will use things to take these dandelions out of our lawns, like other weeds. And in their place will come beautiful flowers like irises and tulips and even roses. But the beauty of the dandelion is not in its first expression of spring. It's in the root, because it's resilient. And all of us know that no matter how much we try to get rid of them, they come back double fold.” The message for each one of us is that resilience. As you listen to Rose talk about the work she does with and for her business clients, you will be inspired to respect and expand your own resilience. These are fast-changing times, and resilience, personally and in business, is more essential than ever. Powerful advice for women, those in the C-suite or any leadership role As Rose tells us: How often we think we're having the same conversation — about dark chocolate, for instance — only to be referring to three different things: milk, white or bittersweet varieties. She shows us how to first establish common ground that leads to an effective discourse for addressing relevance, growth and scaling — the three most important issues she sees in business today. Judith Glaser, the great organizational anthropologist and change agent, once told me that all our lives are just conversations — good ones and not so good ones. Rose has amazing insights on this too, and all women in business should pay close attention to her ideas. Searching for your passion and purpose? Start here: Blog: For Women In Business, Now Is The Time To Achieve Your Dreams Podcast: Lisa McLeod—If You Want To Succeed, You Must Find Your Noble Purpose Podcast: Tony Martignetti—Are You Ready To Live A Life Of Inspired Purpose? Additional resources for you My award-winning second book: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business My award-winning first book: On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. As you know, I'm a corporate anthropologist, and my job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways. And for our podcast, I go looking for people who can help you do that as well. Our job is to get you off the brink. But unless you can see things through a fresh lens, begin to understand them in a new way, you get stuck, or stalled, or you know what you know, and your brain doesn't really want to change anyhow, thank you very much, please go away. I'm happy where I am. But today, the times are changing. We are in a world that is full of turmoil, everywhere, of all kinds. From COVID, to the Ukraine, to what's going on in corporations, everybody is having a challenging time talking to each other. And so I brought you today a wonderful woman who's going to help you think about the conversations that we're having, and how to turn them into really growth experiences. The whole world is a conversation. We're having a global conversation right now. So today, we have Rose Fass here. Rose and I met fortunately, serendipitously at the Westchester Business Council, where she was presenting an absolutely brilliant presentation. And she's going to share some of those insights with you. It was really so touching. I said, Wow, can I share her with our audience as well? Now, the Westchester Business Council is a marvelous organization. You have no idea how many people I've met there, it's a really cool place. But each time I meet somebody and want to share them, they add some dimension to our day today. Let me tell you a little bit about Rose and then she'll tell you about her own journey. Rose knows, as she says, how to use her unique gift to take a mess and quickly put it in place with effective steps to teach desired outcomes. Interesting, isn't it. So she loves to change as I do, and like me, is a culture change expert. She's a natural facilitator who connects with all types of people at all levels of an organization, from the C-suite to the people closest to the work. She has over 45 years of experience in technology and consumer-based industries. During her career, Rose has opened businesses in the United States, has been a general manager with full P&L responsibility and led major corporate transformations. She was a chief transformation officer at Xerox and she's going to tell you a lot about some of her learnings and why at this point she's ready to help others do all kinds of transformation. These times, they are a-changing as Bob Dylan told us in the 60s. Rose, thank you for being with me today. Rose Fass: Thank you, thank you so much. And it's interesting that whenever I hear my bio, I have to smile a little because I go back to being this little kid in a very small neighborhood with a group of young Italian girls like myself just walking around and trying to figure out what it was that we were going to do when we grew up. So the interesting part about all of this is, I run a company right now called fassforward Consulting Group. And it's probably the culmination of everything I ever did at Xerox. Later I went to Gartner with the now CEO of ServiceNow, Bill McDermott, and then met my colleague and partner there, Gavin McMahon, and we started this about 21 years ago. And I still feel like I'm a student of the subject that I talked about. So I want to bring myself into the room as little Rose, so you know who I am. Then we can decide whether any of us are a big piece of stuff, or we all buy into this world with our brilliance and our muddy shoes. So I used to live in East Utica, New York. That's where I was born, on Ruptor Street, and we had a four-room cold water flat that my dad worked very hard on, kind of getting it to where we would have hot water or mom wouldn't have to boil it on top of the stove. Believe it or not, I'm 72 years old and I can actually think back to those days very fondly. But my claim to fame was I lived down the street from Annette Funicello. All of you young women, she was on the Mouseketeers and we were just all a bunch of Italian girls who could dance and sing and we were all cute. And we just could not understand why Annette got discovered by Walt Disney and ended up in Hollywood and we were left in East Utica. So for many, many days, I walked with a group of Italian girls home, complaining, whining, saying bad things and being green with jealousy. I remember this one day, it was unusual because it was early spring, and if you know anything about upstate New York winters, they're horrible. But the weather was nice and I saw my dad picking dandelions out on the front lawn. I went up to him very quietly, because I just wanted to scoot by. My father was a World War II Marine, a published poet and conversant in all the Romance languages, so he was a very interesting guy. I remember walking by and him saying, Rose, and I halted. I turned around, this little nine-year-old looking at him, and he said, What do you see? And he held up the dandelion. And I thought, Oh, God, I don't want to do this. This philosopher, I don't want to do this. And I said, I don't know Dad, I see a dandelion. And he said, Yes, darling, but I want you to look wider. I want you to look deeper. I want you to look beyond just the dandelion. And he looked at me, and I said, I don't know Dad, what do you see? I think at that point, I had learned how to be very good at rhetorical responses, especially when I didn't have an idea of what to say. I was so down in the dumps that I just didn't have the energy to get into it. I usually did, because I think for my dad I was the one that appreciated poetry and philosophy. So he looked at me and he said, Darling, I see the end of a long winter. I see the dawning of a new season. I see lovers walking hand in hand exchanging silence. I see children picking these out of the lawns and handing them to their moms to put them in juice glasses on the sills as a means of saying I love you. And I looked at him. And I said, you see a lot, Dad. And he said, Rose, soon this dandelion, this beautiful expression of spring is going to become a weed, and we like many homeowners are going to go to the nurseries and we're going to get the stuff that will take it out of the lawn because we want to rid ourselves of this one beautiful expression of spring that's now an ugly reminder of cleaning up the yard. And I looked at him. He said, Because soon honey, the beautiful flowers are going to come along, the irises, the tulips, and yes, even the roses. But the beauty of the dandelion is not in its first expression of spring, it's in the root, because it's resilient. And all of us know that no matter how much we hack at them next year, they come back double fold. We named you Rose, but roses are fragile. In your heart, you need to be a dandelion. That is my signature story. I remember that day of standing there on that little patch of lawn and crying in the arms of the Marine and in the arms of the poet. And for whatever reason, letting it all out and feeling like I may be enough. I didn't think I was but maybe I'm enough. And I think we women struggle with that. And so for the rest of my journey, I have reminded myself that we get kicked around, and we get hacked at. And we just have to be resilient. And so today, I think that's probably more true than ever. And it has held me together for many, many years. Andi, so I want you know who I really am, the little rose, the woman who became who she is today, and that I am a combination of all of those beautiful moments when you learn through pain. Andi Simon: Now, by saying that, I guess I visualized that scene with your father was exhilarating, maybe painful. But he was imparting to you wisdom that's really hard to come by otherwise. Who else would you trust to listen to that way? So you may have cried but I have a hunch he had a long term impact on the way you see the world. It's all of the implications and the meaning that it has. Am I right? Rose Fass: The Marine, unlike the philosopher, said, one rule for my two brothers and me was to be up by 0600, ready for company. Every day of my life, I am out of bed by six o'clock and I get dressed no matter where I'm going. My hair is combed. I've showered and am presentable and so are my brothers. And in his mind, it was the "ready for company" meant a lot of things. Were you ready to be gracious? Were you ready to be approachable? Were you ready to be aware, conscious, willing to help? All those things culminated in that one little statement: be up at 0600 and ready for company. And I've kind of never forgotten that. Today, with people working remotely, I noticed they get on the camera, and oftentimes, they'll take the camera off because they're not camera ready or they're even in sweat pants, and they're looking draggy. And when you don't feel good about yourself, it's hard to feel good about life. Yes, and we're living in a time when I think more than ever we have to bring our best selves to whatever we're doing. Because it's going to get harder before it gets easier. I really believe that. Andi Simon: You're making the important point about our best selves. And I want you to talk a little bit about the career that you had because we could stay on your lessons learned in your youth a lot. But the best self is a very interesting concept. We are working with a lot of women as coaches, and they are successful, but not happy. They have a position or are partner in a firm. They've got degrees, are financially successful and they're asking, Isn't there more? We talk a lot about who am I? What's my purpose? What's my best self? So a little bit more about as you got into your career, you began to carve out an area around transformation. Sounds like your father became living in these companies a little bit further. Rose Fass: By the way, Andi, you talk about youth. I often relate to men in the work that I do. I tell them there's no more important person in a young woman's life than their father. Mom plays a role but Father gives them the sense of validation and approval of who they are as women. And I think that's critical, just as mothers help their sons become more approachable and more yin and yang. So for me, my early career after I got out of Boston University, I started at Saks Fifth Avenue in an executive training program, and I had two mentors. I had Jan Edelstein, God rest her soul. She was very gypsy-ish, wore all these crazy skirts and crazy glasses and lots of bangles. But knew Judith Leiber, Bottega, every possible fashion brand you can think of in accessories. I was her assistant and I was also assistant to the blouse buyer, who was Miss Janet. And I'm not kidding. Little bow, little glasses like a librarian, always in the black pencil skirt, white blouse, buttoned to the teeth. They could not have been more different. Jan told me to have to learn how to be creative and every bit of data and information you need to make good sound decisions. But let that be one data point that I want you to go with your gut when you feel you know how your experience is and how something speaks to you. Then I went up toJudith and she taught me the process. And it was so procedural. I remember taking an inventory where every single blouse had to be counted. And in those days, these departments were massive. And I walked around and I was spinning. And I was trying to take a few little shortcuts. And she said to me, Miss Maysa (my maiden name), and I said, Yes. She said, You are not to take shortcuts. You will one day take shortcuts but that will be after you learn the long way home, and I'm going to teach you a long way home. The unique part about this was that Jan and Judith were really good friends. They could not have been more different. But they understood each other in their own way. And neither of them really took shortcuts. Most of them understood what it meant to take a long way home. Years later, working with young people and trying to get them to understand that there are steps to getting to an outcome that doesn't just happen because you wish it so, I would say to them, you are taking shortcuts. You can't do that either. You learn the long way home. And here's the long way. It's like doing math in classes, you do the long version, and then you can get to the quick answer. So for me, my whole career has been pretty much about working in data areas that required both my gut and my ability to be disciplined. Andi Simon: Very interesting. I grew up in the retail business. I was supposed to take over our family firm. A very big store in Manhattan, a department store in the old family for a model. And I was being trained to take it over. As I'm listening to you, I vividly remember trips to the market with my grandmother and my mother to go buy. I remember saying to my grandmother, How do you know what to buy? She said, "Well, Andrea," (I remember her voice so well) and she said to me, "1/3 will sell full price, 1/3 will sell on sale, and 1/3 will walk out the door. Now if we're good, we'll have enough money coming out of that to pay bills and do it again." And that's my vivid memory. I'm being taught that. I remember putting blouses on the hangers. You were counting the blouses. I was putting them on the hangers with Leo in the basement. Rose Fass: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We did it all. I remember Judy Garland coming in to buy a Rosanna sweater. Oh, no, I'm really dating myself here. But Rosanna sweaters were weaved in such a way that it was a staple in every woman's closet. And in those days, believe it or not, women wanted to be a size 12. They wanted to be curvy, and terrific. So she came in emaciated. And she insisted on the size 12 sweater and I thought, You need a size 6. We didn't have 2s and 4s and zeros. Six was the smallest size back then. So ladies, we actually did get to eat. She insisted. And then she called in my department manager and she said, I want to talk to her boss. And I'm like, Oh my God. And the whole thing was, you give her what she wants. She's a size 12 and in her mind she's that size. Well, later, I got a call from upstairs. They said, Wrap all of Ms. Garland's things up and we'll send them over to the hotel. And that was the end of the conversation. And I learned that being technically right wasn't necessarily socially effective. When I later put together the technical, social and political spheres, which are a big part of the book that I've written, called The Chocolate Conversation, and the book I'm writing now, The Leadership Conversation, making bold changes one conversation at a time. We live in this technically right space where we have the facts, we know what we're doing, we're going to say it the way we're going to say it, but sometimes we have to socially adjust to what a person is capable of experiencing in that moment. And getting somebody there by connecting with them, not through facts and through your technical expertise, but through that human connection, and then ultimately positioning it in a way that they feel like they came out of this a winner. Andi Simon: Being an anthropologist, my affection is with understanding women and people. We really intuitively watch what goes on and observe and listen. People can't really tell you what they're doing, to your point. And when you look at data that has no meaning out of context, I still hear my anthro 101 professor saying to me, There is no data that does not explain, does not exist out of context. Their meaning is set into the context. But the other thing that we've learned is that people decide with the heart, the gut, the eyes, and then the data in the brain begins to operate. And that means we have to experience each other. We've got to feel each other. We really don't know what it means. The reason I love my podcast to be video or audio is people see differently. But as you're thinking about it, the first book and the second book you're writing now are all about conversations. They are about your passion. Same thing. Rose Fass: I think for me, Andi, you put it perfectly. One of my dearest friends that I got to know when I first started at Xerox, then went to Palo Alto Research and then later came with her to Gartner and that my early days at fassforward, was an anthropologist, and I just loved Susan because she always said that to me. She said, Rose, there's their side, this side and somewhere in there there's the truth. And then there's the person who's observing the truth. We had a gig with Estée Lauder where they wanted to know what was important to women around mascara. And Susan just sat on trains and watched people put it on. And I was like, Oh my God. And she goes, Well, what's important to you? I said, Well, at night, when I want to give myself a refresh, you have to take it all off because it clumps when you put it all back on again. And later, they came out with a conditioner that you could literally put over a mascara and then put it on and we were part of that pattern. All in the conversations with women about what was important conversations. For me, the first and the most important one is the one you have with yourself. Yes. What's that conversation that's going on in your head? What's your head telling you? What have you done that maybe was right or wrong? So I'm going to take a little moment here. I have a colleague that works for me here, Liz works with me. And I adore her and she happens to live nearby. She put her car in park and realized she had forgotten two presents in the house. She left the dog in the car, her handbag, and just quickly, 30 seconds, ran to the apartment, grabbed this stuff, got back and the handbag was gone. And she beat herself up about that for three straight days in a row. "But I only left for 30 seconds." "But I only did"...is what we do to ourselves. We beat ourselves up over the mistakes that we made. And we don't celebrate the fact that we've learned something. You're parked by a bus stop, someone's riding a bus, so they're not doing as well as maybe you are in the car. They get out. They see an open door, they grab a handbag because it's something to get them by for whatever period of time. And whatever karma was involved in what you owed that individual from some other life, maybe it got taken care of at that moment. And no mistake, let's not worry about it. Let's not get ourselves all worked up. Yes, it's disturbing but at the end of the day, we are going to make mistakes. Our victories will keep us buoyant in life, but our mistakes are what are going to teach us in life. I really believe that. Andi Simon: Oh, I agree. I agree. Yeah, I'd like to add to that, that Liz had a damaged self. One of the things that we often say is, flip it around and begin to express. I think what you're saying is gratitude, what do we do, because it changes the whole, and we manage our minds, the mind does exactly what it thinks you want it to do. When you understand that you can be unhappy, or you can have a lesson learned, I'm grateful she showed me, I will never do that again. Right. I learned that the little time I took was really unnecessary to do it that way. I mean, all the things that turn negative lemons into lemonade, right out of that building that story. It's a little like your dad with his dandelion, and your answer, It's a dandelion, and he said, Push, go further. And so to your point, that self care that we need, and that self awareness comes from taking every experience and turning into something else. Rose Fass: Because nobody's perfect out there. I don't trust perfect people. I learned that in my first book. I think we're all a little messy. I kind of feel this way very strongly. I look at Golda Meir, and I think of what she went through when she became Prime Minister. And it was messy. But what an incredible character, right? Gandhi was messy. A lot of these incredible leaders that we knew about. Winston Churchill never got out of bed sober. Very messy guy. But leadership is messy. And if you are willing to take that on, you can obviously do something uniquely different in the world. I look at Steven Jobs as one of the great leaders of our time in innovation, not so much in leadership, but in innovation. And at the end of his life, he finally came to grips with the fact that I've lived this incredible life, but it's coming to a much shorter halt than I had anticipated. And yet he was very messy. What I say to people in management is, it's something you can plan for. It's the management of work, it's the management of plans. It's all about the stuff that we get to look ahead and do but leadership happens in the moment. It happens when Rosa Parks gives up her seat on the bus. It happens when, at the worst moment in your life, you are going to have to have the courage to do something that you otherwise would be terrified to do. And yet you do it. That's leadership in the moment. We don't get to plan for that. And if we can accept the fact, as I said earlier, that we come into this world with our brilliance and our muddy shoes, and that life is messy, that we can't expect perfection, and we can't hold ourselves accountable to perfection, then we can do what we need to do as all individuals and just progress, one conversation at a time. And I do believe we're in a conversation right now. And we have had very different backgrounds, and yet some very common ground, both started our careers in retail. You went on to become an anthropologist. I got to work with one for a long time that I thoroughly enjoyed. I've taken my business career to heights I never dreamed I would be at. And I have the opportunity to work with C-level executives. And when they ask me how I think I know or why it is what I'm saying, I go, It's easy. I'm 72. I'm at least 20 years older than you and I made every damn mistake that I could possibly make up to this point. And I'm still making them. So I'm saving you the benefit of that. And in the book, it's a book of stories. It's a book of stories about different leaders, different experiences, my journey as a young woman to my business career, and all the different ways in which we sabotage what we are capable of. That phrase that came out very popular a few years back: Don't go there. I absolutely hated it, Andi. I'd be like, I'm packed and ready to go. I don't want someone to tell me, Don't go there. That means this conversation isn't safe, let's not have it. The conversation is as safe as you choose to make it if you can have a civil discourse. And so I have a chapter in the first book, Go there. Find a way to go there. So many times when you bring up the fact that women are unhappy in their current roles is because they have not expressed what they're distressed about. It's like Cassandra, Greek tragedy, the voice is trying to come out. And it's not. And we have to make ourselves known. And I don't mean in an alfa, overly feministic way, but to be real, to come out and say, look, this isn't working for me. I need other things. And today, these people in big positions within corporations, whether they're women or men, are willing to listen. They don't want the erosion of their diverse employees. They don't want that. They want you to stay. So if ever there's a time to express yourself, using the right way to speak. Andi Simon: So let's stay on that. This is a new book that Rose is working on for our listeners. She has a first book. Did you call it The Chocolate Conversation? Rose Fass: Yes, The Chocolate Conversation. Andi Simon: Yes, I do love chocolate. But The Chocolate Conversation has now led to a whole new book. What we're talking about is conversation. All of life is conversation. Yes, Lazer, the late organizational anthropologist, wrote great stuff about conversational intelligence and the power of we. And what we've learned from the neurosciences is that when you say in a conversation, the neurosciences, the brain goes, Ooh, run away. The amygdala hijacks it, it flees it, the cortisol said, This is going to be painful. Don't hang around, off you go. But when you say, We, the we brings out all kinds of good oxytocin or wonderful hormones that say, Oh, let's bond. This is the love that we feel. You, Rose, tell us about the book you're writing. Rose Fass: Well, it's a book of conversations. It's a book of conversations with myself with others. I think what you said earlier, I really care that somebody gets heard and gets acknowledged. I remember facilitating a very large group of different cultural people from Latin America, Portugal. People that were there from France. And we had these earphones on, because they were getting translated into English. And at the same time, we were facilitating all these different languages. There was this one little Portugese guy and he stood up and he was trying to explain something to his boss. And it was completely misinterpreted. One of the things that I call the chocolate conversation is just talking, right?, and the boss got very annoyed, and I said, Stop for a minute. And I kind of took off my earphones and I said, Can you just translate for me? Yes. And I said, this is what I think I heard you say, and he was, Si, si, si. And I said to him, And so I translated and took the whole thing, and I brought it back. And in that moment, there was such a relief. And I thought to myself, I teared up, because in my heart of hearts, the worst thing in the world is when you're standing there trying to express yourself in another language even, and someone is just not getting what you're saying. And completely misinterpreting, because we spend more time on our own point of view than trying to understand what it is that you're saying. So I think today, in business, we've got to start listening to people at the front of the business, the ones that are closest to the customers, it doesn't matter what age someone is, there's truth that is worth listening to. I feel that this is the last value added space right now because our institutions have failed us. People are looking at journalism, and they're saying, Where is it? Where is the unbiased truth? We're getting nothing but opinion and vitriol conversations. The public stage has become a boxing ring. Everybody is walking around that whole term of psychological safety. When I hear it, I think, Oh, my God, it sounds so clinical. What it really means is, Can I be comfortable here? Can I be in my own skin? Can I wake up in the morning and feel like it's going to be okay? And I think we owe that to each other. I think we need to become more human. We need to provide that peace of mind to our children, to our friends, to our family as much as we can. And we need to find a spiritual essence in all of us. And this has nothing to do with religion. It has everything to do with who are we, why are we here? It's not just about the momentary little things that we go through. It's really bigger than that. And so my books are about how do you have conversations that are inclusive, that shift people's points of view from a worldview they're stuck in, establish new standards, a lie, some concerns. The Chocolate Conversation is about worldviews, standards and concerns. The new book is about being bold with your conversation, saying what you mean, not what you think people want to hear but doing it in a way that you can get your point across in a loving and caring and compassionate way such that people feel touched. You saw me at the Westchester Business Council. I showed that wonderful little film of Mary Jackson, NASA engineer. And those of you who have seen Hidden Figures know what I'm talking about in the film. This was a woman who needed to go to a school to get an engineering degree so she could become a NASA engineer. She's brilliant. But she was a woman of color. Walking in at a time when the level of bias against people of color was so serious. And if she had gone up against that judge with hatred, resentment, vitriol, about something that was totally unfair, she would have been right. But she never would have been effective. But she went to that judge with a different heart, and she found common ground. You've been first in a lot of places. I need to be first going to that school, we can have this in common. And I shared that at the Business Council because that to me, was the combination of one of the better conversations I've been exposed to. Andi Simon: You have a passion and a purpose. You really do want to see change happen, and how we get along, how we listen to each other, how we learn from each other. And there's something more here in your life journey that really is transformational. You see that it's a time where we have to not simply accept the way we are but begin to change the way we go. I'm anxious to hear if you have any message in your little toolkit here to share or some ideas about how we can begin to multiply. A podcast is a podcast, but my whole purpose in life is to multiply it so that people take it and share it. And in the process, learn something they can actually do with it. Rose Fass: So I think one of the things that's helped me a lot, and I can't take credit for it, was given to me by a wonderful professor at MIT that I happen to be in touch with. When you want to have a conversation, particularly one that may have a little conflict associated with it, have the meta conversation, the conversation about the conversation, get permission to have it. That was very helpful to me, because I would be, Are you open to an alternative point of view? And yes, even if it's going to be very different from the one that you have. Yes. Do you mean it? Yes, I mean, okay, I'm going to take a risk here, and say something that really flies in the face of your experience, your lived experience, and what you've just shared with me, and I just want you to consider it. I don't want you to agree with me, I just want you to consider it. And that's helped me a lot to be able to have that kind of conversation. And I'll do it often with a CEO. And they're like, Okay, and they take a breath. I think also, when I'm getting feedback, I don't know about you, Andi, but I still lose, if it's not going to be good. You know, I still have that. And what I've learned from my years here is to stop feeling that I'm going to feel it initially no matter what I do, but to step back from it and say, this is just a data point. Not defining my entire persona. It's not defining my past, my future, my present. It's a data point. Let me take it in. Let me think about it. Let me try to get myself back centered. I think staying in the present, very important, stays in the conversation you're having, not the one you're tying yourself to. And you know, having a conversation is not waiting for your time to speak. Andi Simon: Well, these are important points. And as the listener is taking their notes, as I know you often do, there's some lessons here about navigating interpersonal relationships, having a permission conversation before you have the conversation levels the playing field. It's not adversarial, it's communication. It's sharing, it's a we, in a sense, it's that what Glaser spoke about, which opens your mind up to something I'm going to enjoy as opposed to flee in some fashion. The second thing is that as you're going through this, I learned a long time ago to say something like, It sounds like you are upset about something. And if I put it into their zone, it becomes a conversation of listening, as opposed to having a point of view about it. And I would say to my staff, I was an EVP of a bank, and I had lots of folks, and I would learn that and practice it because I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. It was easy to become a command and control leader, but I was very engaging. And I said, Sounds like you're having some difficulty with your manager? No, I see. Well, it sounds like you're unhappy with your job. I mean, you can really watch the responses come back as long as I kept it in their zone, as opposed to trying to take charge of it. And then my third point is that I often ask people, Yur feedback point is really important. I teach a Leadership Academy. And we teach feedback. Because every conversation is feedback. It's in the feedback loop. And I say to people, If you really want to get the right feedback, say to somebody, What's one thing you would like me to do differently? You'd be amazed at how interesting that goes. Rose Fass: Yes. Great question. Wonderful question. And most people are afraid to ask it. And afraid to hear, afraid to ask it and they're afraid to because they're afraid to hear it. Very often, and you may have found this too Andi, if you say to someone, I sense that you're upset about something, they might feel like, Oh, are you threatening me? But it's more along the line of just sort of stepping back from it and saying, you know, we all have concerns. Yeah, I know I have them. What might be one of your concerns? What are you feeling right now? What do you like about what you do? And what are the things that you could change if you had a magic wand? And you could just change this one thing? What might that be? Just giving people a chance to step outside of themselves and de-personalize a little. Sometimes if we can step out of ourselves. This is another anthropological method that Susan taught me: stand outside of yourself, just observe it. And it was a hard thing to learn to do. But it's an extraordinarily freeing. When you can sort of step outside, say what's really bothering me. Why am I so stressed about this? And we're going to be stressed, these are stressful times. I really felt bad about that poor tennis player, devoted to his healthy body, he's not anti-vax. He's come right out and said it, I'm not anti vaccinating, I just don't want to put any foreign things into my body. Now, whatever side of the argument you're on, the newscasters kept trying to pin him as an anti-vax. And he's the sweetest guy. And there's a sweetness about him. And I said, You know, he's probably a health nut. He believes in alternative medication. Have we tried to understand his point of view? Are we just throwing this out at him that he's now part of the anti-vaxx movement now? Andi Simon: But Rose, we have to wrap up, as much fun as we are having. It's really an honor and a privilege. We have a brilliant woman, Rose Fass. I want her to give you one or two things she doesn't want you to forget because we often remember the ending more than the beginning. Although her dandelion story is one that you're gonna hold on to. Some things Rose you want to leave with us. Rose Fass: Remember that everybody, everybody piles in with their brilliance and their muddy shoes. Take that away, nobody's perfect. That's something I want you to take away. The second thing is, remember the conversation you're having with yourself. That's the single most important conversation because that's the one that's going to shape the conversations you have with others. And when you do have a conversation with someone else, think about the context. You're in the social connection you need to make, how things need to be positioned. And think about having the conversation about the conversation before you jump right in. That would be the three things that I would say. And my dandelions story is just if you're another we'd be happy to have you in the field. Andi Simon: This has been such fun. So we have had Rose Fass here. If they want to reach you, where can they do that? Rose Fass: They can do it at hello@fastforward.com. And I'm on LinkedIn, Rose Fass. Andi Simon: Yes, everybody's on LinkedIn. Thank you LinkedIn, it's a great place to find the world. Now, for my listeners. Thank you for coming. As always, our audience is wonderful. Rose has given you some great insights today about all kinds of things: not only growing up, but also really becoming who we are, listening to our conversations about who we are, and also finding a path to where we find purpose and passion. It comes down to conversations. All conversations are there. That's how we survive. Then the question is, who are we having conversations with and what are we listening to, and listening has become real important. Thank you for coming to our podcast. As you know, we're ranked in the top 5% of global podcasts, which is truly an honor and a privilege. It's wonderful. And I bring on guests who I think have ideas they want to share with you. My books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and your local bookseller. My Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business, Rose could have been in there. And I have the stories of 11 women who have smashed the myths. They didn't listen to people who said, Oh, you shouldn't, and you can't and no, we don't, because they said, Of course we can. And they are really great role models for other women. AndOn the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights is about how a little anthropology can help your business grow. And as you know, we spend a lot of time consulting with clients and helping them see, feel and think in new ways like you.

311: Gillian Tett—Why Can A Little Anthropology Help You And Your Business Grow?

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2022 42:20

Hear how anthropology can send your business zooming to the top I love to read the Financial Times. It provides a very different perspective of the world from our US papers. As I was browsing recently, I came upon a story about Gillian Tett, FT's US Managing Editor, and her new book, Anthro-Vision. Curious as I am, my question was, What is a journalist doing writing a book about anthropology, and promoting AI (Anthropology Intelligence)? My joyful discovery was that Gillian is an anthropologist who became a journalist, a bit by chance and then by design. Her book is about the power of observation. Whether in Tajikistan as an aspiring anthropologist studying marriage rituals or reporting on a major conference before the financial crisis of 2008, she mastered the art of listening to the stories being told, the resistance to change that people demonstrate, and the wisdom an anthropologist can offer—if only others are willing to listen. As a fellow anthropologist, I am fascinated and I know you will be too. Enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here As anthropologists, our job is to see what is unseen Anthropologists love to observe, and by capturing the real lives of people, we offer insights that other data capture methods might complement or even might ignore. We know that people don't really know what they are doing and often tell you what they think you want to hear. It's their stories that offer opportunities to better ascertain the meaning of their daily lives and see the patterns that their cultures command. In Gillian's book Anthro-Vision, there are wonderful stories about how cell phones have become the way in which kids growing up in the pandemic have built social lives, and why this is probably not going away. There is a great story about Bad Babysitters and how an anthropologist could open up their eyes to why they were messaging incorrectly to potential customers. She and I spoke at length about the social silence that gives us a view into what people are thinking. You will enjoy listening to her and love her book as I did. Our interview was at times deep and at others filled with humor, as we shared our journeys and who we are, not what we do. You can contact with Gillian onn LinkedIn. Gillian's 5 big ways Anthropology Intelligence (AI) could help you: Recognize that we are all creatures of our environments. Accept that there is no natural cultural frame. As humans, we create this diversity. Find ways to immerse ourselves in the minds and lives of others to gain empathy. Look at ourselves through the lens of an outsider to see ourselves more clearly. Listen to what is not said, that social silence. To learn more about how we at SAMC apply corporate anthropology to businesses to help them get off the brink and soar, read the first chapter of my book, On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights. For a deeper dive into anthropology and how it can help your business thrive: Blog: Will You Adapt Or Die? How Cultural Anthropology Can Transform Your Business Strategy Blog: What is Corporate Anthropology and Why Should I Try It? Podcast: Rita Denny—Maybe You Need Anthropology To See Yourself In New Ways Additional resources for you My award-winning second book: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business My award-winning first book: On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink with Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. I'm your host and your guide and my job is to get you off the brink. So I try to find people who are going to give you a fresh perspective, see things through a clear lens. Let's just step back and take a moment to be a little anthropological and begin to understand that you really don't know what's happening until you pause and think about it differently. And as you know, in my books, I help you see things through the eyes of my clients who all got stuck or stalled because their stories were so great that they couldn't see all the things that were going on around them. And that's why a little anthropology can help you change, grow and your companies get unstuck. As you know, I myself am a corporate anthropologist, which is why I'm so excited to bring to you today's guest. Today, Gillian Tett is with me. Let me tell you about why she's so special, and why you're going to enjoy watching her or listening to her. Listen carefully to the stories she has to tell. Gillian serves as the Chair of the Editorial Board and Editor at Large in the US of the Financial Times. Forgive me for reading this, but it's very important that you hear it. She writes weekly columns covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues. She's also the co-founder of Financial Times Moral Money, a twice weekly newsletter that tracks the ESG revolution in business and finance, which has since grown to be a staple FT product. In 2020, Moral Money was the SABEW best newsletter. I'll tell you, it's a great newsletter. Previously, Gillian was a Financial Times US managing editor. And she's also served as assistant editor for the Financial Times markets coverage, and a lot of other things of great importance. I love to read theFinancial Times and I bet you do as well. She's the author of The Silo Effect, which looks at the global economy and financial system through the lens of cultural anthropology. She's also authored Fool's Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed Catastrophe, a 2009 New York Times bestseller and Financial Book of the Year at the inaugural Spirits Book Awards. I must tell you she has written really good books. I brought her here today because she has a new book out called Anthro-Vision. And as you might imagine, it touched me and my heart. And I read right through it. I couldn't stop because it was all about how, what she's calling AI, not artificial intelligence, but anthropological intelligence, more intelligence and a whole new perspective. And what I would like you to understand is how a little anthropology can, in fact, help you and your business see things through a fresh lens and why it's so important. Gillian, thank you for joining me today. Gillian Tett: Well, thank you for interviewing me. And it sounds like we not only have a lot in common, but a lot to learn from each other. I'm interested in your own career and your own story because it sounds fascinating. Andi Simon: Well, I have enjoyed reading about yours. But I'd like you to tell the listeners or the audience about who Gillian is because you've had a great journey that's taken you to many places. And as an anthropologist, I smiled. Just a little aside, I took my daughters when they were four and five to Greece to study Greek women. And I know you'd appreciate this, I learned a whole lot about the Greek woman through my children. I'm not sure what my children learned, but they still love me. And so that's all that matters. Tell us about yourself. Gillian Tett: Anyone who reads my biography would think that I'm thoroughly weird. That has been the reaction of many business leaders, political leaders, economists, grown-ups who pretend to run the world, when they hear about my background because most people who work in high finance or business assume that if you're going to be a journalist writing about them, you should have a PhD in economics or an MBA, or some kind of training in quantitative intellectual pursuits. And my background is actually in cultural anthropology. And I did a BA and then a PhD at Cambridge University in the UK. And what anthropology really is about is looking at human cultures and systems, and what makes people and societies tick, not just in terms of the obvious things that we recognize, but most importantly, the things that we tend to ignore around us all the time. Just like psychologists look at our hidden biases in our brains, anthropologists look at our hidden biases and patterns and assumptions in society. So in my case, I went into anthropology because I was fascinated by the rest of the world. I've always loved to explore and travel. And as a child, I dreamed of going to wacky weird places or places that seem weird to me. But like Indiana Jones, if you like the intellectual world, and cultural anthropology pretty much came out of that impetus in Victorian England, the idea that people would go off to other cultures to find the essence of what it meant to be human. And a lot of what anthropologists did in that way mid-century was indeed to go and travel. That's changed a lot in the 21st century. I'll come on to that in a moment. But I went off in my case to a place called Soviet Tajikistan in 1989. And I spent about a year and a half of my life up in the high mountains in Tajikistan living with a group of wonderful villages. I imagine most people listening are saying, I've got no idea where Tajikistan is on the map, or what it's like there. But basically, if you imagine the scenes you might have seen of Afghanistan on the news, and take out the black veils and put on very brightly colored clothes, then you roughly have the idea of what my village was like. It was in the high, high mountains of the Hindu Kush. And I was studying Tajik wedding rituals there. But I wasn't just studying wedding rituals, I was looking at these rituals and symbols and ceremonies, and all the economic exchanges associated with weddings as a key to try and understand how the Soviet Tajiks reconciled their identities of being Islamic and communist at the same time. Now, after I did my PhD, I then left Tajikistan. I actually became a journalist, originally a war reporter. And then I joined the FT and became an economics correspondent. And for the first few years, it felt as if all my training in cultural studies was completely irrelevant. But it's funny how life works. Because a few years after I started writing about finance, I suddenly realized that actually human beings are humans wherever they are. And in just the same way that I went studying Tajikistan wedding rituals in the Hindu Kush, and looked at how they use symbols and ceremonies to express ideas about their world. To give you an example, two investment bankers get together for gigantic ritualistic ceremonies called investment banking conferences, where they have all kinds of rituals like PowerPoints, and bar meetings, and golf tours. And those rituals and ceremonies and symbols also create social networks, and express all kinds of assumptions which could and should be studied through an anthropologist lens. So the latter part of my career has been all about trying to use this anthropological vision, and apply it to the world of business and finance and economics. And frankly, I think it's something that anybody could benefit from, particularly now, given that COVID has ripped up our normal lives and has thrown us all into culture shock. And we can all benefit by thinking about what makes us really tick. Andi Simon: When you think about that, you in your book play out some of the stories in there. You've provided us with a broad range of fascinating illustrations of the application of anthropology to different situations. Whether it was to a childcare center that wasn't doing well, or getting into pet care, or to the economic crisis of 2008 or what happened with Cambridge analytics, give us some illustrations, some case studies that are some of your favorites. The reason I ask is that, as you were describing, I could imagine being in the highlands of Russia. I took my kids to see what it was like to be a woman in Greece, and I studied the Greek immigrants and they returned to migration. But if you haven't done that, there's no way you know what it's like. And when you do it in modern society, in our businesses, people say, Well, what do you really do? I say, Well, I hang out a lot. And I listen a lot. And I'm looking for all the gaps that are on the sides of what people assume to be true. The only truth is, there's no truth, I tell people, and then they get really frustrated because it's all an illusion that we're living. So some illustrations, some great stories that you enjoy sharing about the ones that really make a difference. Gillian Tett: Well, one of the problems with anthropology and trying to communicate it in a corporate setting is that the corporate world likes to see things in shades of black and white, and things on PowerPoints. And anthropologists say, well life is grey and subtle and often contradictory. And in reality it is, that's really the only way to understand situations. But it's not always easy to boil down into a single chart. But for me, one of the most important moments in my own career was when I realized that actually the same tools I looked at Tajikistan weddings with in terms of analyzing and symbols could and should be applied to investment banking conferences. I went down to the Mediterranean in 2005 to an event called the European Securitization Board and looked at those rituals as if I was seeing them like an anthropologist. It showed me that the bankers that were engaged in that securitization business back in 2005 had all kinds of assumptions that they were barely aware of themselves which were distorting their vision of finance quite significantly and laying the seeds for the subsequent 2008 financial crisis. So when I looked at the bankers at play in their conference, I can see that they were a tribe set apart with a strong sense of their own identity. And like any social group that has a tight network, that was birthed and being reflected and reproduced in the banking conference. And they had a creation mythology. You know, every group has a creation mythology. Their creation mythology was that perfectly liquid markets, so called liquefaction of financial markets, was the ultimate perfect gold, the Holy Grail. And they were so addicted to this idea of a perfect free market. So they kind of failed to see all the contradictions in their creation mythology, like the fact that, although they were creating these innovations supposedly to make markets more innovative and more safe and more prone to perfect trading, most of these new products were so complex, they weren't being traded at all. And they weren't even able to value them with free market prices. Because it wasn't at the market prices, they had these models, the tools they were using to disburse risk were actually introducing new risks in the system because they were too complex for people to know where the risks were. And they said that these tools were done entirely to help people. But there were no faces in their PowerPoints. It was all Greek letters that indicated it wasn't just an accident that there were no faces. And their PowerPoints reflected a mentality that the end user had been kind of screened out of the way they saw finance. And you can say, well, that's kind of a pity. But actually, it had a really practical implication because what it meant was that the people creating new financial products were so caught up with the creation process, they couldn't actually see how the products were being used on the ground at the end of the financial chain. There's a wonderful scene in the movie, The Big Short, where a hedge fund trader goes and meets a pole dancer in Florida. Great scene. The financier, the hedge fund guy, goes, Holy crap, these people are doing this with subprime mortgages. And it was a real shock. And the thing that was shocking was not the fact that subprime mortgages were being used and abused on the ground, it was the fact that so few financiers could see what the end result was because they were so detached. So I came back from my conference, having spotted all this in terms of how the bankers were conducting their rituals, and it's one thing that led me to later warn that there was going to be a financial crisis. And I kept issuing those warnings over and over again. So that's one example where you can use anthropology tools to look at how a social group is blinkered and has blind spots that don't see, which can be dangerous. But in my book, I talk about ways that consumer industry groups can use anthropology to try and understand consumers, to try and understand what really drives fashions and trends to try. And also I've talked about how businesses can use anthropologists to see what's going wrong in their companies. General Motors did that very effectively several times. And you can also use anthropology to understand how other offices really work, or how they don't work. So almost any sphere of life where people are operating can benefit from some anthropology. Andi Simon: Often, I'll take a client with me out to their clients, to go spend a day in the life of their clients. So I'm going to teach you a little anthropology, I say. Let's go watch and see what's going on. You sell them solutions that you think are perfect. Let's watch how they're actually using them. Because to your point, if I went out and looked and came back, they would delete me. You didn't hear it, right? You didn't see it, right? So we go with them. And the two of us watch in the same factory exactly how it's being used. A sensor that's actually measuring the color of something or some technology that's being applied. Then we go out and we write down everything we saw. And the two of us were in two different places at the same time. We were each seeing completely different things. The conversation that follows is fascinating to me, because they're still trying to figure out what it was I was looking at and listening to. To your point, this is about listening and seeing and what they were listening to and why they were trying to fit it into their box. Like, you're a wonderful economist, we're trying to fit it into their illusion of reality, and what the reality actually was and I might claim as mine in a better reality, but I'm looking for the gaps for you and you're looking to fit it into your box, which may no longer be the right box anymore. And that's so important now, coming out of the pandemic The way we used to do things isn't any longer the way we're doing it. So people are hiring us to figure out, what do we do now? What's happening out there? Come watch with us. So as you were putting together your book, I have a hunch each of the stories touched you in some of the same ways. Gillian Tett: I mean, the power of anthropology, in many ways I would argue, is essentially what you're doing is trying to engage in a three part journey. And the way I put it, that basically you are trying to simultaneously immerse yourself into the minds and lives of others so that you can understand them better. You're trying to not just immerse yourself in the mind of others, but really trying and seeing the world through their eyes in a kind of humble, open-minded way and to collide with the unexpected. You're trying to then use that knowledge to look back at yourself. Because, there's this wonderful Chinese proverb that a fish can't see water. None of us can see the assumptions that shaped us unless we periodically jump out of our fishbowl, go with other fish and talk to other fish and then look back at ourselves again with clarity of vision. And then you use that inside-outside perspective. The experience of being a stranger in your own land to not just look at the parts of the world that you talk about, the visible parts, but also the parts of the world that you don't talk about, or the assumptions that you ignore because they seem boring or geeky or dull or taboo or obvious. And that sort of three-part journey can be really powerful. An example: General Motors brought in an anthropologist to look at why some of its meetings were going so badly wrong, why some merging initiatives were going so badly wrong. There was an attempt in the latter part of the 20th century to create a sort of joint car between German and American engineers.They tried and tried for about two years to create a joint small car by bringing this team of engineers together. And at the time, they assumed the problem was because of linguistic differences. I know the tendency to think oh, those Germans don't understand the Americans and Americans didn't ask the Germans, because that was the obvious difference and distinction that was in everyone's faces. But some anthropologists observed the group and realized that actually it wasn't a straight story of German versus American clash. There was a bigger clash between different teams of Americans between Tennessee and Detroit. And because they all had very different cultures in their factories. And the really interesting thing was they kept calling meetings to try and resolve the problems without realizing that all three different groups had different ideas about what a meeting was and what the whole point of it was. The Germans thought it was basically to rubber stamp a decision that had already been taken and that it was very hierarchical Their meeting didn't really count as work because work was what you did elsewhere. The Tennessee group thought that a meeting was there to kind of brainstorm and you had to have some kind of collaborative consensus-based system and they thought meetings were work. And the Detroit group had another idea all over again. So all of the people were coming into that meeting with different expectations, and because they weren't actually talking to each other in advance, and they weren't looking at the story behind the story, which is basically what were their different cultures, and what were their expectations of meetings, they kept wrongly describing it as a German-American thing, and it wasn't. So those patterns played out over and over again in offices. And it's really important to think about that now for two reasons. Firstly, most businesses right now are in the grips of radical tech transformation, as automation and digitization takes off. And that's creating a whole different bunch of cultural clashes, because the way that a group of techies in San Francisco are trained to think about meetings is not the same as say, a group of metal bashers in Detroit. But secondly, COVID and the pandemic and lockdown has challenged all of our ideas about how offices and work and meetings should happen. And we haven't been together in groups to kind of learn from each other and thrash it out. We've all been scattered and isolated. So within every company, the longer that COVID and lockdown has gone on for, the more you've created micro subcultures, who may be totally talking past each other all the time. And often exasperated senior managers who are middle aged, go, Oh, these millennials, they're so weird. But what about the age gap between different generations? Or maybe just the fact that different subcultures are growing up inside companies as we're scattered. And as we return hopefully to the office, different cultural patterns will develop all over again, and we need to think about it. Andi Simon: Well, you're not Malinowski, and you're not going off like Margaret Mead to a small island. To some degree, that's just what's happened during this pandemic, islands have been created. And as we're watching them...for example, I have a wonderful client that I'm going on my fifth year with them all in transformation. And they used to give remote work as a benefit to their partners and their employees, until the pandemic hit and everyone went remote. All 70 employees. Now they can't get them back into the office. And they said, Well, what was valued before as a benefit, it's now a penalty. And how do you take the same thing: remote work one minute is wonderful and in one minute it's awful. What are the values that are coming, and the partners are lonely. And the reason they want them back together is for human companionship. And what's so interesting for me is to watch the dynamics going on. Because they don't find a way to articulate what really matters here. It isn't about having them come back in the office, and that's not bad, and people decide with feelings. Their logic is, Well, I don't have to commute for an hour plus, I can get so much work done. Why do I have to be there to have lunch together, we're not going to do that. I mean, it's so interesting to watch the head and the hearts here at odds with each other on this island that I'm not quite sure was perfect before. And I'm not quite sure it's so bad right now, but nobody's quite sure what we should do to build coming out of it. And I have a hunch this is the proliferation of islands that all of us are watching happen across the country and across different industries. It's really interesting as an anthropologist to step back and just observe and laugh a little and cry a little bit too. Gillian Tett: I guess the point that you know very well that you've seen in your own kind of work, which is so important, is that we need to talk not just about what people are obviously talking about all the time, that's in your face, but also we need to always ask ourselves in any context, whether we're in an office or any other setting, What are we not talking about? What are we missing? What is the story behind the story? What's the context? And one of the ways I try to illustrate that point is through an issue that isn't to do with work. Practically, everyone who's middle aged with teenage kids is grappling with why are teenagers so addicted to their cell phones? And if you ask people that question, they go, it's because of cell phone technology. Or is it because of those wretched teenagers or it's because you know, evil tech companies are busy designing algorithms, which are addictive? Certainly that's true to some degree. But the reality is that you can't understand teenage cell phone usage without stepping back and looking at what people don't talk about, which is how teenagers move in the real physical world. And if you go back 100 years, teenagers had a lot of opportunities to physically roam, to meet their friends on the streets, even 50 years ago, they went to the shopping mall. They cycled to school. They would hang out with their friends on the fields, without parents watching every move. But in the 21st century, and even before lockdown, you had a whole generation of middle class American teenagers, particularly in suburbs, who essentially are overscheduled. They are driven everywhere by their parents constantly being monitored. And then you go into the pandemic, and suddenly this sense of physical constraint is even more extreme. So is it any surprise that you have a generation of people who think that the only place as a teenager that you can test boundaries, congregate spontaneously, explore the world without parents watching is online, in cyberspace? You can't talk about cyberspace experience without looking at the physical world. That's the social silence, to use a word that anthropologists sometimes use. And that model or metaphor applies over and over again to almost any aspect of modern life. Andi Simon: You said something very profound and well worth emphasizing. The times make the man or the man makes the times. Here we have a transformation of trust and of safety. When I was a kid growing up, we would go outside and play stickball on the street, and get on my bike and ride to the mall to go shopping with nobody. As my kids grew up, we began to realize how much more structured their lives were without thinking about the implications of it. I don't think we spend our time saying that's good or that's not good. We sort of flow with what society is doing and then you have all of the after effects of transformation. I've had several university clients who are frustrated because they couldn't get their Gen Ys, now the Gen Zs, to come in and play athletics. They spent their days on video games. And they were much happier playing a video game and not coming in to go play baseball or basketball or watch them. And socializing with more challenges. I actually had a grownup client, a professional, who spent his weekends playing games. His whole friendship network was there. And as an observer, I said, Oh, this is really a pure point, a transformation of our society without much intentionality here, if you know the world he was in, he never met any of the folks that he played with, which by itself was sort of an interesting and new and bizarre society in which we're in. You know, as you're thinking about what's coming next, I don't know when the pandemic is really going to end or if we're going to live in a COVID world for a while. Are you? As this is a futurist podcast, I would like to ask what are the signs you're seeing? What do you hear coming through? I have a hunch, you're picking up little signals already that you're curious about? Because I know I am. What do you see? Gillian Tett: Well, I think that people have been forced to re-examine how they're living. And what is fascinating was the late 20th century was a time when people had quite rigid boundaries between home and work in many professional contexts. Not always, but most western professionals thought that the office was a place you worked in, you might bring work back to home. But that was separate, you had a work time and a home time. You had your office colleagues, your friends, your family, they all sat in different buckets and we took that for granted. The reality is that actually that pattern of the 20th century is an absolute aberration throughout most of human history, and even throughout many parts of the world today. And what COVID has done has tossed most of us back into a state of being something like a peasant farmer, where your house is your locus of work, and your family is mixed up with your colleagues and everything else. And we may not like it, but it certainly challenged our boundaries. I don't think it'd be that easy for people to recreate those boundaries in such a rigid way going forward. A second change that's happened, which is not so bad, is because we've been locked down in our own groups, I think maybe we've become myopic. We've basically been locked down with people just like us, our pod, our friends. And people thought initially that when we went online, we would somehow break down our tribalism. Quite the reverse has happened because the key thing to understand about the internet is that it allows us to customize our identities and experiences in a way that's never been possible before. And I think it's changed our vision of how we as individuals relate to society. You know, most societies in human history have seen the individual as a derivative of society. We're a cog that fits into a machine with identities that are pre-assigned. You know the enlightenment in Europe and this idea that we are the center of our society. The "me generation." "I think, therefore I am." Society's derivative of me. 21st century with digital tools has given us the capability to basically customize our world as we want to know. We customize our coffee choices, our media sources, our friendship groups, and identities online. We customize our music tastes. Today's generation doesn't want to have a vinyl record, which has been pre-assembled with someone else. We want our own pick of a mix of music to listen to when we want, exactly what we want. And that's really a shift that's been exacerbated by the pandemic because we've been so reliant on cyberspace. And it's made us even more tribal, I think, in a very bad way. Another shift that's happened is that people's sense of the future, being a predictable, rigid path that goes in one direction has been shaken by the pandemic. Late 20th century was a time where most Westerners had lived a pretty stable life, pretty predictable life...no longer. And it was also a world where people thought okay, so I have business economics in one bucket, and sort of a do-gooding environment, social issues in another. And I think, again, that's breaking down. And you can see that in the corporate world where, essentially, companies are realizing that environmental, social and governance issues aren't just about activism, they're about risk management, about making sure that you don't suffer reputational risks, or the loss of assets that lose value if the regulatory climate change changes, and you don't alienate your customers and your employees. So people are no longer seeing business in just such a rigid tunnel vision way, it's more about lateral vision. And that's very, very important. And last but not least, I'd say that another shift has been in terms of cryptocurrencies and finance. In some ways, the move into cryptocurrencies, the move into meme stocks, is also part of this pick and mix culture. Patterns of trust are changing. As anthropologists, we used to say there was either vertical trust, or horizontal trust, where people trusted each other in peer-to-peer groups. This provides a social group glue to keep groups together. Or, you had vertical trust, which was trust in institutions and leaders on a large scale. It was presumed that when you had big groups, you couldn't have horizontal trust. Digital platforms have enabled something called distributed trust to explode. Suddenly, huge groups of people can do things on the basis of trusting each other via digital tools. That's how Airbnb operates. It's also how most cryptocurrencies operate. You trust the crowd through a digital platform, but not through an organizational hierarchy. And that's, again, changing people's attitude toward money and value and exchanges in a fascinating way. Andi Simon: If we write about this in about five years, we will have captured a major catalytic moment transforming society. If you listen to the multipliers of what we've just described, when I work with my own CEOs, mostly mid-market size clients, they are becoming far more stuck, stalled and immobilized than they've ever experienced in the past. They don't know what to do. And what's so fascinating to me is that they really don't know what to do. And they're not willing to go out of their corner office, out of their comfort zone to begin to see. And so they're really struggling with whether or not their businesses are going to survive. And there's no reason why they can't survive, they just have to change. And all of a sudden, that entrepreneurial spirit that got them there is stalled. And the certainty you spoke about, I'm not sure that was true, or an illusion that humans prefer certainty versus being fragile. But in fact, it's really raising up those people who can see opportunity in being agile, and I'm willing to change. The brain hates me when I go into a company to say, You're going to change and immediately all that cortisol is produced, and they go, Oh, please get out of here. But in fact, I do think there's going to be a training ground now for the agility that's needed for the next phase. Because as we come out of this, it's not going to be certain either, and nobody can really plan the way they might have thought. And I don't think that you should plan anything. I think you should try to be nimble, agile, adaptive, and talk to people. You speak about the silence, it's a great time to start listening. Just talk to people and you don't have to do it in person if you don't want to, but you can try. But I do think it's a time to listen to each other and not decide anything, just pull it in and just be anthropologists. Just listen to the conversations. Judith Glaser has a wonderful book on conversational intelligence, that you start by saying all of society are conversations. And I truly think that's a simple way of saying, Yep, just listen to each other. But the conversations are hanging out, and begin to think about what's really going on in those conversations. It's a little like that picture of that scene when they say, Who's doing the subprime mortgages. What are we missing? You have some great five big things in Anthro-Vision. Do you want to share them with our audience? I guess I'm pushing people to bring a little anthropology into your life. It's important and one of those five things. Gillian Tett: Absolutely. Well, having said you can't boil anthropology down to a PowerPoint, here's my PowerPoint. Lesson one: recognize that we're all creatures of our own environment. In a cultural sense, we're all fundamentally shaped by a set of assumptions that we inherit from our surroundings that we never usually think about. And they matter. Lesson two: recognize that just because we are shaped by sort of assumptions, that doesn't mean they're universal. It sounds very obvious, but the reality is that it's human nature to assume that the way that we live and operate and function is not just inevitable, but natural and proper, and that everyone else would kind of live like us. And guess what, there's a multitude of different ways to live and think, and if you think that yours is the only right way, you're going to suffer badly in business. Lesson three: coming out of this is to take time to immerse yourself periodically in the minds and lives of people who seem different from you. In my case, I went to Tajikistan, which for someone having grown up in England, it was very, very different indeed. But you don't have to go to the other side of the world of Hindu Kush. Just go talk to someone down the end of your road who lives in a different world. Go talk to someone in a different department, go take a different route to work, go swap a day with someone with a different profession. And if you can't do it physically, because of the pandemic, get online and basically explore another tribe online. And then mentality: I mean, just change the people you follow on Twitter, say for a week, and you'll see a completely different perspective on life. And then lesson five: for us, the experience of immersing yourself in the minds of others to become a stranger in your own land, and to look back at yourself with fresh eyes, and see what a stranger would consider to be weird or shocking, or impressive about how you live and your assumptions. And think about what you're not thinking about. What are the parts of your life that you're ignoring, the social silences, often thinking about the rituals that you're using in your everyday life, the symbols, the patterns that you use to organize your space, and your family groups, or your time. Those can often be very revealing, if you step back and look at them with an inside or outside his eyes. You know, why would you consider it to be odd to keep your hairbrush in the fridge? What does that mean? I mean, what are you missing? Well, what is one of your ideas about different body parts and about your mouth versus your hair, or you know all these inbuilt assumptions, which you take for granted, but are often very revealing. There's nothing wrong with the patterns we inherit from our surroundings, unless we remain prisoners of them and cannot imagine alternatives. And right now, as we come out of the pandemic, try to reimagine the world and recover and rebuild. It really is time to have an open mind, particularly after a pandemic that's kept us locked down mentally and physically, and in danger of being captured by tribalism. Andi Simon: What a beautiful ending, Gillian. Thank you so much. I've had such fun. It's fun to wander with you. Any last thoughts? How can they reach you? And how can they buy your book? Gillian Tett: First, let me say what a great joy it has been to do this with you. And I greatly salute what you've done in your own career, which is fascinating. I write for the Financial Times, twice a week with columns. I also oversee a platform called Moral Money, which is the ESG sustainability platform at the FT, which is a newsletter that goes out three times a week. And my new book, Anthro-Vision, is out on sale. I should say last but not least, as another sign of culture, if you're listening to this in America, you can find my book Anthro-Vision, with a bright red jacket cover, and a picture of me on the back wearing a bright red top looking like Fox TV because that sells in America. If you pick up my book in the UK, or any part of the former Commonwealth as they say, you'll find my book is sold with a nice white understated cover with a picture of me on the back, wearing a blue shirt on a stoop clutching a cup of coffee. The British publishers thought that a picture of me looking like a Fox TV babe was too scary for the British market. And therein lies a story about why culture matters. Andi Simon: And you hope they're right. Well, I think that for the listeners, and our audience, whether you're watching this or listening to us, it's been truly a special time to share the essence of On the Brink with Andi Simon, our podcast, but my job is to help you get off the brink helping you to see, feel, and think through a fresh lens. There is so much going on today that's going to expand in a positive way the possibilities that are before you. It's the art of possibilities now. And rather than trying to go back...people say, I can't wait till the old comes back. It's not coming back because I don't even know what the old was and you don't either. But you also know that the new is giving you opportunities that are tremendous. Think about them in a positive way and you'll see them turning lemons into lemonade or limes into margaritas as somebody said to me recently. It's a great time. Gillian, thank you for joining me today. And for our listeners, don't forget, here's what I'd like you to do. I get emails from across the globe at info@Andisimon.com. You send me your ideas, you send me people whom you want me to interview. Send them to me, give me some ideas about topics that would be cool for you. I actually am doing a Leadership Academy and one of the gentlemen there, a physician, said, You know, my sons are listening to your podcast, and I laughed, and I said, How old? Eight and ten! I said, so that's my target audience. And I will keep talking to them, but they should listen because I think they and you will really benefit from understanding how a little anthropology can help you and your business soar. Bye bye now. Stay well. Bye bye.

195 Denise Cooper: Better C-Suite Conversations

Manage Smarter

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2022 20:42

Denise Cooper is the Founder and CEO of Remarkable Leadership Lessons, a company founded over 10 years ago to assist C-suite, senior-level business leaders, and managers in raising their game as contributors to profitability. She earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis MO, a Coaching Certification from North Carolina State University, and studied under Judith Glaser to earn the distinguished designation as a Certified Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ) Coach. Able to draw on over 25 years working inside corporations of all sizes, union companies, government offices and agencies, Denise shares her experiences in her thought book, Remarkable Leadership Lessons: Change Results One Conversation at a time. It's designed to let you see the power and potential within you, and if you show up, step up, and speak up, you can get the results you really want. Denise serves as an Executive Coach and Keynote Speaker, with a proven process for grooming diverse candidates for succession through one-on-one customized coaching, professional assessments, time-proven case studies. In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Denise discuss Better C-Suite Conversations, including: · Emerging leaders how to show up when you show up · How to be the C-Suite level and be your authentic self in the job · Conversation anxiety most C-Suite level leaders have and how to fix it · Assumptions you should avoid making in trying to improve conversations “Listeners will learn how to ask the right questions to the right people, that will help them build relationships and achieve the results they desire." –Denise Cooper Sales Manage Smarter with the Manage Smarter Podcast. Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales. Connect with Denise Cooper http://www.linkedin.com/in/denisecooper http://www.rllessons.com/ Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts · Website: ManageSmarter.com · LinkedIn: Audrey Strong · LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith Connect with SalesFuel: · Website: http://salesfuel.com/ · Twitter: @SalesFuel · Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

006: Have Richer Conversations Using Neuroscience

Get a G.R.I.P. with Coach Elix

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2020 53:09

Have Richer Conversations Using Neuroscience with Dr. Richard Glaser You've definitely heard of Emotional Intelligence, but have you heard of Conversational Intelligence®? Join Coach Elix and Dr. Richard Glaser on this episode to get the introduction you need. Dr. Richard's late wife Judith Glaser coined the term Conversational Intelligence® and was a pioneer in the field. Dr. Richard Glaser is the founder of CreatingWe, a 41 year old consulting and coaching company that works with CEOs to reshape corporate conversations. Mastering Conversational Intelligence® is key to transforming your conversations from fear-based to trust based. Tune in to understand the neuroscience behind how you feel in conversations and how you can use this new understanding to have better conversations. “The brain does not speak French or English, it speaks neuroscience” - Judith Glaser Timestamps: 07:52 What is Conversational Intelligence®? 13:18 Who is Dr. Richard Glaser? 15:39 If you've never heard of Conversational Intelligence®, this is what you need to know 20:25 A simple technique you can use to make your next difficult conversation easier 24:10 Three levels of conversation (which one do you engage in most?) 30:42 How Burberry put itself on the map using richer conversations 35:33 Moving beyond polarized political conversations 38:28 How do we listen to people without judging them? 44:05 What can corporations do to change biases? 47:00 What is moving from "I" to "We" thinking and why you must do it 51:00 How to connect with Dr. Richard Glaser Key Takeaways: Conversational Intelligence® is learning how to shift from fear-based conversations to trust based conversations. Conversational Intelligence® is very powerful because it has a strong scientific foundation. It is based on anthropology and neuroscience. When questioning your biases, sit back and ask yourself, “how did I get to that belief system?” There are three levels of conversations: Level 1 is sharing information; Level 2 is advocating for what you believe (make sure not to prophesize your beliefs); and Level 3 is asking questions that open up a dialogue (builds trust, makes you feel you are listened to and creates safe space for innovation and creativity) Double-clicking is a useful technique to help you overcome difficulty in conversations. It is asking questions such as, “can you tell me more about that?” Essentially, it revolves around asking questions you don't have answers to so you can understand where somebody else is coming from. Diffusing tensions in conversations through asking questions helps you understand the person you are talking to. By moving closer into their space, you are able to make the conversation more positive. When you understand how chemicals affect your brain in conversations, you can fight imbalances and shift from having fear-based conversations to trust-based conversations. This is what happens in your brain when you feel attacked in a conversation: “Amygdala Hijack is what people go through when they are attacked. You can be attacked in many ways, not just physically. You can be attacked by being ignored, you can be attacked by being insulted, and so on. You get the same reaction, you get that cortisol level that rises up, and it makes you react in a way that you might not want to react in.” - Dr. Richard Glaser, Ph.D. Had you heard of Conversational Intelligence® before? What techniques do you use to have calmer and more productive conversations? How will you use your new knowledge about Conversational Intelligence® to regulate your future conversations? CONNECT with Dr. Richard Glaser: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-d-glaser-09a2102a/ The CreatingWE® Institute website: https://creatingwe.com/ Email: ciqconcierge@creatingwe.com or info@creatingwe.com Buy the book Changing Conversations for a Changing World here: https://www.amazon.ca/Changing-Conversations-World-European-Collective/dp/1735358525 If you found value in this episode, please leave a 5-star review so we can continue inspiring you! Get a G.R.I.P. with Coach Elix airs live on WARA 1320AM out of Attleboro, MA every Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern. To listen live or be a caller, stream the show from anywhere in the world by visiting www.wararadio.com.

english conversations moving french ceos neuroscience emotional intelligence richer changing world diffusing conversational intelligence attleboro amygdala hijack judith glaser

#052: Bev Hancock - Shift The Trust Needle and Make it About Them

Scale Your Sales Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2020 20:05

Welcome to Scale Your Sales Podcast. Bev Hancock is a conversational catalyst who believes in leading through conversation. She facilitates vital conversations for the new world of work that result in high trust, relationship, and collaboration. With 20 plus years in Leadership and life-long learning, she passionately believes that our greatest power lies in the conversations we have every day - she brings the science and magic of conversation to transform lives, teams, and businesses. Bev has been in leadership for a long time. A few years ago, she realised that leadership has got very heavy, sending our leaders on executive courses to universities and giving them all kinds of strategy. Instead of focusing on what leaders every day and that is talking to people, whether customers, stakeholders or talking their teams. Bev was intrigued, how the conversation is a strategic driver of success in business. She, fortunately, studied with Judith Glaser, the world's expert in conversational intelligence. Bev was bloom away by how the quality of your conversations to transform a culture to transform your client relationships, to transform the experience that you are creating for your customers. Bev retold a conversation that one of her executive coaching clients had when working through this process with him. He took over a region where there was a toxic fear-based culture with a lot of resistance in the system to change. By going through these conversational tools and techniques, he was able to see a shift in the process of the conversation, moving people to be more open, willing to listen. Such that, he said within the first two minutes of the conversation he could see exactly what strategy he needed to put in place to move it forward. After a period of six weeks, there was such a definitive difference in the culture that the head office wanted to know what they were doing differently. Bev says she has seen a lot of sales methodologies come and go, it is not only sales have changed, but customers have also changed. They are looking for something completely different, they are looking for an experience and a relationship, not a transaction. The companies who are going for good to great are the companies who are focusing in on loyalty and retention, it is just so much easier to keep your clients when they are part of your family. These conversations can transform that sales conversation. When you have a relationship with a client, eventually it is no longer a sales call, it is how are we going to work together. The real power of building that relationship through every single interaction that you have the salesperson becomes part of the chain to create the greater value because on the other side of the salesperson, there's also a conversation with inside the seller organisation to ensure that there is a seamless experience customer receive. Bev said a diverse group changes the type of conversations because context is everything. You have always got to work within the context that you are having the conversation in, there are so many nuances that diversity brings. They are a lot of biases, some we know about others we do not and so many of these things shut down the conversation. The question is, how do we open up space for people to step from difference and diversity into a space of being fully human. A place where we meet each other to get the best possible result from everybody. When you listen to people, you allow multiple perspectives and you allow the rich diversity. In South Africa, the Rainbow Nation, because there are so many colours in so many different perspectives and so many different cultural influences, it makes a richer conversation. Bev says, what diversity does for us is it invites us to embrace the full richness of what everybody in the group must bring. Bev said, anybody going into a sales conversation is going to meet a certain level of resistance because they think, you obviously want to sell me something those barriers tend to be up Perhaps the real start of the conversation is. Are we doing less talking and more listening? And are we tuning in? Are we asking questions? Are we finding out who our customer really is? And that the problem that we might perceive to be is not necessarily the problem they have, and just spending some time in that conversation you can uncover so much more. What we call, the shifting of the trust needle starts when you make it about them and not about you. And I think this is a big shift for salespeople. Salespeople are generally are better talking than they are listening. That is what they have been trained to do, all this now must change, salespeople must be better at listening. Bev said, what she loves about the science is that you can literally re-engineer and rewire the brain in the way that you have the conversation. You can create different chemical makeup. If you have a group who is probably dealing with change, feeling anxious, and threatened. You are dealing with stress hormones and stress chemicals in the brain. Calming conversations help make people feel more receptive, the brain opens up. Bev said when she realised that this was as much a biological process, it becomes less about soft skills. It just made sense that you could change the chemistry of a conversation by the way that you choose to have it. So, your Mother was right when she said: “it's not what you say it's how you said it.” This can make such a monumental shift in how you start moving this process from resistance to collaboration. When people are resistant, it does not matter what you put in place, they will not collaborate unless they feel that they are cared for. An example of what you should not do say Bev so normally when you get pushed, what is your normal reaction? Your normal reaction is to push back, generally, when there's resistance, the listener is either doesn't like you, although that's not generally the problem is normally a feeling like you're coming and asking me to change what I know, all right, and that's taking me into a scary space. I am comfortable where I am now, and how do I move that? So, what we tend to do is if we tend to use one of two processes. Either we say to them, let me tell you because I know to trust me. I am an expert. Number one, that is one of the first worst things that you could do. The second thing that you shouldn't be doing at this stage and this sometimes goes against some of the sales training you might have received is that this is not the time for influence, all right, to try and persuade and to get them to do something. If I go back to a conversation that I've had with a colleague who is now having to shift the way that they are looking at the world of speaking for, for instance, and they were very convinced that they were right, and this is how you were doing it. So, all I did was I tuned-in and I listened, and I ask questions and I allowed them to shift. In coaching the power comes through the question. The question opened up his own thinking, and eventually, the response was, Well, yes, Maybe if I shifted like this, or maybe if I shifted like that and straight away you can see the resistance starting to diminish. So, it is counter-intuitive Your natural response is to push. The best thing you could do is hold back and provide space. That would be the first strategy that you would use to overcome resistance and know that it does not normally only happen in one conversation that might take two or three A great example is when you are not the entrenched provider and you are having to go in and say, pick me, pick me. There will be resistance because they have an existing relationship with a provider unless they are extremely unhappy with existing provided, they have no reason to change. Tune-in and allow that natural resistance to something new to get them excited about it and to start drawing them in. You have achieved it when they start telling you what you could do for them. The most powerful thing Bev recommends in sales is to find the one thing that you have in common because before you go to any technical conversation, people want to know there is a connection. Look for the common ground because straight away that creates connection and connection is the heart of trust. From that start creating a trusted connection. Bev says, do not underestimate the power of caring connection. People will listen so much deeper and they will connect with you on a completely different level if they think that you care about them. Which means that you do not only speak to a client when you want something from them. Bev was very privileged to work with our previous public protector at magnificent lady by the name of Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela. For her Shero, Bev says Thuli is the absolute epitome of grace and trust under fire. Probably the most difficult communication environment where she took on what was a very toxic government environment, her beauty and her grace and her thought processes and her attention to detail and her caring came through so strongly. Bev did an exercise in the room where she held up a picture of Hillary Clinton and Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela, this was during the time of the Clinton and Trump presidential elections. Bev asked the audience for their instinctive response in terms of trust from 1 to 5. Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela was fives completely across the board. Hillary Clinton's were variable. Bev said one of the reasons why she is her shero is that she made such a difference in the work that she did with such incredible grace and maturity. http://www.bevhancock.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/bevhancock

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Establishing a Culture of Trust & Improving Your Conversational Skills

The Joy to Lead Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2020 27:17 Transcription Available

One of the biggest fears I help each and every client first overcome is the fear of trusting others in their business.So, how do you initiate a culture of trust? Culture is built on relationships, which are built on conversations. To create a culture of trust, you must establish a rapport of trust with your team. Here are the 5 steps to creating trust through your conversations and building a culture of trust - one conversation at a time!Shownotes can be found at www.joytolead.com/culture Read Conversational Intelligence by Judith Glaser - https://amzn.to/3ba2W75 Helpful Links and ResourcesFor more information on the Leadership Academy, visit www.joytolead.com/academy!To learn more about the Dream to Team Hiring Course & Template Bundle, click here!Need 1:1 Hiring Support and Strategy? Click Here!

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Interview with Judith Glaser

Conversations in Depth: A QRCA Views Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2019 48:14

In this first QRCA VIEWS podcast, Sharon Livingston, Ph.D. interviews world-class consultant, Judith Glaser. Judith Glaser is CEO of Benchmark Communications, Inc. Founded in 1980, her consulting firm works with CEOs and their teams helping them focus on competitive challenges in a world of moving targets with a direct line of site to the customer. Judith considers herself an Organizational Anthropologist, working with clients at the intersection of culture, leadership and brand Her two books Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization and The DNA of Leadership, made Amazon Business Book Best Seller Lists in 2005 and 2006, and were also selected by both Forbes and Business Book Review as two of the top business books of 2005 and 2006. She has appeared on the NBC Today Show, ABC World News, Fox News Channel, News 12 Connecticut, NY 1, Martha Stewart Show and the Family Network talking about We-Centric Leadership, Bully Bosses and Culture Transformation. She has been quoted many times in the NY Times, WSJ, Crain’s, Newsday, Star Ledger, Harvard Management Review, AMA World and other print media talking about her Revolutionary Workplace Approaches. She is contributing Editor of Executive Excellence Magazine and is listed in the Excellence 100 Consultants.

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A Conversation with Terrie Luperger on the Game of Teams Podcast Series

The Game of Teams

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2019 43:13

Introduction: Terrie is a bit revolutionary and evolutionary in her thinking and approach. Terrie coaches and advises leaders and teams worldwide. She uses innovative change processes to help individuals and teams improve the results they get without having to sacrifice well-being Terrie is a Master Certified Coach, she is a pioneer in the field of coaching and was one a number of professionals who codified the Core Coaching Competencies used today as the standard of Coaching Professionalism worldwide. Terrie is currently chief disruptor at her own company, Terrie Lupberger and associates, senior director at Altus Growth Partners, Program Facilitator for the Executive Circle for Women who Lead and Director of Training for the Coach Partnership (formerly Newfield Asia) Podcast episode summary: This episode illuminated the many conversations that are missing on teams and spoke to the need for Leaders and members to be cognisant of the promises they hold for the sake of the team, the mood they live and the shape or quality of their team standards. Terrie spoke of some team myths, debunked the notion that teams simply exist to work but instead exist to fulfil a promise. She also communicated her desire for more teams to enjoy their time together, to be enlivened by the work, to be nourished and fulfilled by the work they do together. There is too much suffering & wasted energy going on in organisations. Conversations could change the shape of work life. Show highlights: Terrie started life working in Washington DC as a manager in the treasury department A program designed to help people re-locate changed how she saw change management Teams exist to fulfil a shared promise Emotional intelligence and Somatic intelligence inform a lot of the work she does with teams She helps teams navigate, manage and expand their emotional literacy at work She discussed how the way we show up as leader determines whether people chose to follow us, be repelled by us or move away She pays attention to the shapes of conversations-context matters, setting & environment matters, linguistic ability matters etc.. One myth we need to debunk is the notion that we can ask for certainty in a world that is VUCA, instead we need to equip leaders and teams to be resilient, to be flexible and agile not just intellectually but emotionally as well. We have to be able to pivot Understand Politics and Power do not be blindsided by both Terrie described her approach working with teams. She engages the leader first, then she has interviews/conversations with individual members and then with the team as a whole to work out their shared promise, their ways of working and the kinds of conversations that are missing between members. She is minded that the team need to understand what will satisfy their customers and stakeholders-do they know? Teams form but they do not necessarily have the conversations to shape their interactions or how they will be together, especially in times of breakdowns There is a sort of take it for granted approach to team norms She encourages teams to take a look at the missing conversations the members are not willing or are uncomfortable to have together She shared a word coined by Chalmers Brothers “Carefrontation” as a substitute for difficult conversations, asking how we care about our promise, our working agreements, our care for a supportive environment, our missing conversations She opined that there is too much suffering in our organisations that could be resolved by better quality conversations. Often individuals on teams need to question their own patterns, beliefs about teams, how they self-sabotage, what stores they live etc..this awareness can improve the quality of team life Terrie shared the work of Judith Glaser, called conversational intelligence and how science shares that our emotions precede us and impact how another reacts to us. We need to be mindful and aware. This is a great book to understand how to learn new and effective powerful conversational rituals that primes the brain for trust, partnership and mutual success. Terrie shared 3 nuggets for teams to consider-What is the shared promise for the team? Watch your mood and do a self-analysis on the conversations this team will not engage. Resources: the following include the resources we alluded to over the course of our conversation Chalmers Brothers; Language and the Pursuit of Happiness The Institute for Generative Leadership Https://generativeleadership.com Judith Glaser; Conversational Intelligence

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432: How to Work With a Board, with Denice Hinden

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2019 35:54

Denice Hinden: Managance Consulting & Coaching Denice is the president of Managance Consulting & Coaching, a firm that helps transform organizations with provocative strategic planning and coaches leaders and leadership teams. She was lead researcher and co-designer of Executive Transition Management (ETM), a now widely used methodology for effectively supporting nonprofits through leadership transitions. Denice is the author of The Nonprofit Organizational Culture Guide: Revealing the Hidden Truths that Impact Performance* and Taking Leadership to the Next Level: A Year of Stimulating Essays to Discover More Joy in Leading & Inspiring Others* has a tremendous amount of experience helping leaders and boards find alignment and succeed. In this conversation, Denice and I discuss the purpose of a board and how leaders can build relationships with board members. We explore the importance of transparency, how to keep initiatives moving forward, and the practice of regularly providing context. Key Points Six purposes of a board: (1) set policy and direction, (2) monitor operations for compliance and mission, (3) represent the organization, (4) serve as strategy partners, (5) keep records for the organization, and (6) develop current and future leaders. Leaders who lean into full transparency with their boards will build relationships that weather difficult times. Be cautious of making assumptions about what board members want to know. When meeting one on one, communicate what has happened in conversations with other board members to help keep things moving forward. Connecting board members to context regularly will help them find movement, especially when the board is in a volunteer capacity. Resources Mentioned The Nonprofit Organizational Culture Guide: Revealing the Hidden Truths that Impact Performance* by Denice Hinden Taking Leadership to the Next Level: A Year of Stimulating Essays to Discover More Joy in Leading & Inspiring Others* by Denice Hinden Related Episodes How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271) Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech, with Tom Henschel (episode 316) How to Find Confidence in Conflict, with Kwame Christian (episode 380) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

432: How to Work With a Board, with Denice Hinden

coaching board leaders connecting hidden truth executive presence inspiring others find confidence kwame christian tom henschel judith glaser

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2019 35:54

Snippet: The Internal Conversation From Levels of Conversations

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2019 16:04

Today’s podcast continues our Podcast Snippet installments. We use these shorter podcasts to share quickly, and hopefully succinctly, our thoughts on key topics or distinctions. In today’s snippet is a continuation from our previous three levels or three types of conversations podcast. In this quick podcast we focus on our inner conversations - the ones we have with ourselves. These classifications are built from Judith Glaser’s work called Conversational Intelligence. We use these classifications to help us in Mazzi’s work of awakening and transforming. Find out more and connect with us at Mazzi Partners.

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Snippet: Levels of Conversation from C-IQ

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2019 18:40

Today’s podcast continues our Podcast Snippet installments. We use these shorter podcasts to share quickly, and hopefully succinctly, our thoughts on key topics or distinctions. In today’s snippet we explore the three levels or three types of conversations we engage in. These classifications are built from Judith Glaser’s work called Conversational Intelligence. We use these classifications to help us in Mazzi’s work of awakening and transforming. Find out more and connect with us at Mazzi Partners.

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What’s Needed Now - Self-Regulation and/or Co-Regulation?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2019 44:05

Years ago Daniel Goleman, through Emotional Intelligence, introduced the concept of self-regulation and recently Judith Glaser, through Conversational Intelligence, introduced the concept of co-regulation. Both are powerful and needed within our own personal life as well as the system where we live and work. In today’s podcast we’ll explore both capacities and talk about how we use co-regulation every day to navigate life’s tricky waters.

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408: Get Better at Deep Listening, with Oscar Trimboli

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Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2019 39:53

Oscar Trimboli: Deep Listening Oscar is a mentor, coach, speaker, and author. He was a director at Microsoft for over a decade and headed up the MS Office division in Australia. Today, he works with leadership teams and their organizations on the importance of clarity to create change, how to embrace the digital economy, and the role values play in the achievement of your purpose. He is the author of Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words*. Key Points Listen beyond the words that are said and try to determine what the speaker is really trying to say. The more senior you are, the more listening you’ll do. Ask the speaker: “Tell me more” or “What else are you thinking?” or “How long have you been thinking about that?” To be a great listener, you have to create a space where you’re available to listen. For every hour you listen, you need to spend another hour in action. Leaders often are not great at hearing all the opinions in the room. Bonus Audio Three tips to becoming a better listener Resources Mentioned The 5 Myths of Listening Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words* by Oscar Trimboli Book Notes Download my highlights from Deep Listening in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Be a Non-Conformist, with Adam Grant (episode 238) How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271) How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

408: Get Better at Deep Listening, with Oscar Trimboli

australia office microsoft leaders myths get better james clear adam grant deep listening person you want oscar trimboli judith glaser

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2019 39:53

Suzanne Keel-Eckmann on Clifton Strengths and Finding Joy in your Career

Conversations on Careers and Professional Life

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2019 38:22

Executive Coach and Foster Mentor, Suzanne Keel-Eckmann talks about joy, self awareness, Clifton Strengths and more. She mentions: Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing by Joseph L Badaracco JR The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins Conversational Intelligence by Judith Glaser For more information on Clifton Strengths, visit https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/

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399: How to Be Present, with Dan O’Connor

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2019 33:39

Dan O’Connor: Life Unscripted Dan O’Connor is a multi-faceted actor, improviser, writer, and director. He is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Impro Theatre. Dan is the author, with Jeff Katzman, of Life Unscripted: Using Improv Principles to Get Unstuck, Boost Confidence, and Transform Your Life*. Key Points When we meet someone for the first time, there is a narrative that happens between us. “If you’re interested, you’re interesting.” Oftentimes, people in meetings aren’t engaged in the conversation and are only waiting for the other person to stop talking. If you make the effort to really listen to your customers, you’ll be able to engage in customized sales because you’ll truly understand what their needs are. Resources Mentioned Life Unscripted: Using Improv Principles to Get Unstuck, Boost Confidence, and Transform Your Life* by Jeff Katzman and Dan O’Connor Dan O’Connor Impro Theatre Book Notes Download my highlights from Dan’s book in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Four Critical Stories Leaders Need For Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148) How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271) How to Close the Power Distance Gap, with Jordan Harbinger (episode 343) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

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399: How to Be Present, with Dan O’Connor

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2019 33:39

transform your life get unstuck dano jordan harbinger producing artistic director boost confidence judith glaser impro theatre david hutchens

Episode 36 - Winter Reflections

Overthinking Conflict

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2018 21:19

In this Episode C.D. and Amanda take some time to reflect on the last year and look forward to 2019. This is the longest show notes and link list we've done by about 200%. So we've pulled our 2 call-outs to the top of the list! 1. We are collecting ideas for the 2019 SKill Series. If there are skills you think we should add to the list let us know @overconflict or www.facebook.com/overconflict 2. Happiness by Aminatta Forna is the CoRe Reads holiday book club pick. Read it with us over the holidays. C.D. Co-Chaired the BC CLE Conflict Resolutiuon Conference 2018 - Evolving Practices for Changing Times Amanda has been studying Conversational Intelligence with Judith Glaser. Judith passed away last week and will be greatly missed by the entire CIQ community. You can find out more about Judith and her work at www.conversationalintelligence.com As we begin a season filled with family visits we are reminded of some of the great advice from Episode 24 - Curiousity for Better Holidays with Kathy Taberner and Kirsten Taberner Siggins Skill Series Did you enjoy last year's skill series? Are there skills you really think we should do next year? Let us know which ones you would love to see covered @overconflict C.D. and Amanda found a different set of last year's series really useful Which were your favourites? We've gathered them all here for you just in case you want a refresher! Episode 25 - Spotlight on Paraphrasing with Luke Weisner Episode 26 - Spotlight on Effective Questions with Cinnie Noble Episode 27 - Spotlight on Reframing with Stephanie Grunze-Swanson Episode 28 - Spotlight on Boundaries with Lorraine Segal Episode 29 - Spotlight on Assertiveness with Dr. Michael Talbot Episode 30 - Process Management with Gordon Sloan Will you join C.D. and Amanda in reading Happiness by Aminatta Forna for CoRe Reads? CoRe Reads is a holiday book club for Conflict Resolution professionals. This year's book was chosen through a consensus process led by Wendy Lakusta You can see the full video of Wendy Lakusta's facilitation here, after watching the video myself I plan to read all 3 books over my holidays! Julie Daum - Happiness by Amminata Forna Aaron Leakey - Blindness by Jose Saramago Darsey Meredith - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Julie Daum, CoRe Reads, C.D. and Amanda will be debriefing the book in January, date to be determined. We will announce the date once we know it on twitter and in our newsletter. Have a Wonderful Holidays! Talk Soon!

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Honoring the Power of Words As We Communicate

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2018 42:02

Judith Glaser’s work in Conversational Intelligence reminds us that “Words create worlds!” In today’s podcast we share our reflections and wrestling with honoring the words we use as we partner together in order to co-create a more powerful, safe, creative and connected world.

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Growth_Igniters_Radio_-_SS-3_-_Bring_Together_Groups_With_Opposing_Interests_with_Judith_Glaser.mp3

Growth Igniters Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2018 46:44

One Thing Series: Conversational Intelligence & Communicating Better as a Leader w/ Judith Glaser

TheSchoolHouse302 One Thing Series Leadership Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2018 31:19

Don’t miss this leadership interview with Judith Glaser. Judith is an Organizational Anthropologist. She is one of the most pioneering and innovative change agents, consultants, and executive coaches in the consulting and coaching industry, and she is the world’s leading authority on Conversational Intelligence®, WE-centric Leadership, and Neuro-Innovation. She is also a best-selling author of 7 business books including her newest best seller - Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results. Through the application of “the neuroscience of we” for business challenges, Judith shows CEOs and their teams how to elevate levels of engagement, collaboration, and innovation to positively impact the bottom line. In 2017, Judith was selected by Marshall Goldsmith as one of the top 15 Coaches in the world. She has also been ranked as the 10th Coaching Guru in the world by Global Gurus and has been selected as a 2017 Brava Award Winner. From 2016 to 2018, Conversational Intelligence® was selected by INC, Magazine as one of the top 5 business trends of the year. In 2004, she was awarded Woman of the Year in New York City, and the same award, again, in 2017 by Smart CEO. Since 2006, she has been listed in the top 10 consultants globally in the Excellence Top 100 Consultants list and is one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders globally on the subject of leadership. In 2011, Judith was awarded the Drexel University Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 2006 she was inducted into the Temple University Gallery of Success. She is a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate. She guest speaks at a number of universities nationally and internationally including Dubai and China, universalizing Conversational Intelligence. She has appeared on CBS Morning News with Charlie Rose & Gayle King, NBC’s Today Show, ABC World News, The Fox News Channel, The Martha Stewart Show and the Family Network talking about We-Centric Leadership and Cultural Transformation. Her interview with TheSchoolHouse302 was incredibly insightful, check it out. Listen to what Judith has to say about traditional methods of communication--asking and telling. She says we need to move to much deeper, richer conversations, which she calls going from transactional to co-creational. Judith is influenced by a number of leaders and you can find out more about her work, like the concept of C-IQ by visiting Conversationalintelligence.com. She advises us to “listen to connect not judge or reject.” The key is to learn how to pull the right information from people and not push them away. This style of listening shifts the chemistry in our brains and moves to an open space for greater communication. Don’t miss what she says about language. Listen to how she truly believes in living outside-of-the-box and not being bound by others. This isn’t the first time that a leader told us that they wanted to be able to fly. Check it out. She talks about listening to herself and trusting her gut. Don’t miss what she says about instinct. She talks about the rhythm of the universe and the bond we all have with one other. Fascinating. Don’t miss it. Judith’s interview is filled with practical advice for leaders, and it really hits home on something we do everyday--communicate--but that we need to do better as leaders. Her ideas helps develop leaders by getting to simple with speaking and listening in a more profound way. Be sure to get your copy of her book, Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results, and let us know what you think. Please follow, like, and comment; it really helps. Use #onethingseries and #SH302 so that we can find you. Joe & T.J.

Judith Glaser

Corporate Unplugged

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2018 43:25

Judith Glaser is an organizational anthropologist and a specialist in conversational intelligence. Today Judith talks about why it’s important to understand how our brains work, why it’s not healthy to know everything as a leader, how to deal with a conflict, why it’s important to give children a voice, why you should help other people grow as a leader, and why we should all have more compassionate conversations.For full show notes, scroll down. On today’s podcast:Understanding how our brains workDon’t expect to know everythingWhen in conflict, be a filmmakerThe importance of giving children a voiceHelp other people growHave more compassionate conversationsLinks:Creating WEConversational IntelligenceFull show notes at: http://corporateunplugged.com/podcast/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

nikki glaser judith glaser

363: The Path of Humble Leadership, with Edgar Schein and Peter Schein

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2018 36:23

Edgar Schein and Peter Schein: Humble Leadership Ed Schein is Professor Emeritus of MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He is the author of many books and publications, including the new book Humble Leadership*. Peter Schein is the cofounder and COO of the Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute and co-author of Humble Leadership*. Key Points The problems today’s leaders face are becoming more and more complex, and leaders can no longer be expected to know all the answers. All people are vulnerable in one sense because nobody knows everything. The value systems of many companies do not incentivize managers to get the most out of their teams, instead of rewarding managers for playing up to management. Bonus Audio Transparency, Openness, and Safety Resources Mentioned Humble Leadership* by Edgar and Peter Schein Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute Related Episodes How to Be a Non-Conformist, with Adam Grant (episode 238) Turn Followers Into Leaders, with David Marquet (episode 241) How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271) How to Be a Happier Person, with Neil Pasricha (episode 334) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

363: The Path of Humble Leadership, with Edgar Schein and Peter Schein

Scaling Up Business Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2018 36:23

108: Judith Glaser - Develop Your Conversational Intelligence

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2018 43:35

What is conversational intelligence? We know about emotional intelligence and ‘traditional’ intelligence, but there is also a third part to it. Today’s show is all about how leaders can produce greater results and be more effective by developing their conversational intelligence. Conversation can bring us closer together and allows everyone to effectively co-create. Judith Glaser is an author, academic, business executive, and organizational anthropologist. She is the Founder & CEO of Benchmark Communications, Inc., an executive consulting and coaching company with an emphasis on the importance of conversations in shaping corporate culture and achieving corporate goals. How do you create an environment where every human being has an identity of their own, even when they share the same job title? If leaders think of every human being as being unique and different, it creates a completely different atmosphere in the workforce and it even creates innovation. What happens in the brain when people treat us with respect and love us, vs. when we’re told we’re doing everything wrong and will never amount to anything? They create chemical, and sometimes, structural shifts in our brain. Leaders can find ways to create an environment that opens up part of the brain that will make people smarter and the best part is you can do that with just a conversation! That’s what it means to have ‘conversational intelligence.’ Part of conversational intelligence is understanding how to listen and hear in between the lines. Many people listen to figure out how they can fit into the conversation or to correct somebody. Unfortunately, that doesn’t build connections. If you listen without judgment, listen to just listen, you are able to see more clearly the kinds of emotions people are talking about but can’t seem to put into words. As a leader, it is important to be able to connect with everyone, but just know that some people may take more work than others to reach common ground with them. Interview Links: Creatingwe.com Judith on LinkedIn Resources: Scaling Up for Business Growth Workshops: Take the first step to mastering the Rockefeller Habits by attending one of our workshops. Scaling Up Website Gazelles Website Bill on YouTube Scaling Up Podcast — Brian Scudamore Scaling Up Podcast — Shannon Susko

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344: The Way to Have Conversations That Matter, with Celeste Headlee

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2018 37:34

Celeste Headlee: We Need to Talk Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist who has appeared on NPR, PBS World, PRI, CNN, BBC and other international networks. She hosts a daily talk show called “On Second Thought” for Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta. She’s the author of the book We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter*. Key Points Dysfunctional conversations (especially about politics) are nothing new. What is new is how virtually every decision we make has been politicized. When in a conversation, let go of the burden of trying to convince someone of something. Listen to someone to hear their perspective rather than only waiting to hear what they say just so you can refute it. When you’re trying to take in information, you cannot also be holding an agenda. If you don’t know an answer, don’t try to hide it. Just say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” People have less empathy towards others than they used to. It’s possible to find something in common with almost anyone if you ask a few questions. Resources Mentioned We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter* by Celeste Headlee 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation (Celeste’s TED talk) Don’t Find a Job, Find a Mission Help Make America Talk Again Book Notes Download my highlights from We Need to Talk in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Know What to Ask, with Andrew Warner (episode 198) Use Power for Good and Not Evil, with Dacher Keltner (episode 254) How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with with Judith Glaser (episode 271) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

344: The Way to Have Conversations That Matter, with Celeste Headlee

talk bbc cnn npr celeste headlee dacher keltner conversations that matter andrew warner on second thought judith glaser not evil have conversations that matter

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2018 37:34

Coming Down the Ladder of Conclusions

Leadership and the Environment

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2018 49:06

Judith Glaser discusses in her pioneering work, Conversational Intelligence, how difficult conversations and situations arise when we disagree with each other. She introduces an effective tool / process called the Ladder of Conclusions which removes the barriers that energized disagreement and then brings a powerful connection and trust-based energy that unite us together enabling us to co-create mutual success. Join Mazzi as we share our experience in using the Ladder of Conclusions tool / process.

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012: Judith Glaser, Conversation 2

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2018 43:49

This conversation was fun and engaging since Judith is charismatic, experienced, and cheerful, even though it started solemnly, owing to a terrorist attack in Manhattan the day before. We covered politics a bit -- now that I think of it, one of this podcast's few forays there.We talked about leadership from many perspectives, including her storied experience, given her experience with globally known leaders (Donna Karan, etc) and top organizations (Harvard, Apple, etc). Most of us rarely get to talk to people with such connections and history.I continued to follow Judith's lead from our first conversation to use her definition of "environment," which wasn't my usual one, roughly meaning the air, land, and water we share. Her definition is more about people and relationships.I treated the conversation as somewhat challenging, to enter someone else's world. I went into this podcast as much to learn as to influence, expecting everyone to have unique views on the environment, leadership, community, and other subjects, so I welcomed it.By challenging, I don't mean the conversation was unpleasant or uncomfortable. Just that given my experimental physics background, we were far from my touch points like measurables like concentrations of molecules and concepts like conservation of energy.I presume listeners with backgrounds different than mine and more like Judith's will resonate with the conversation. My goal is to make the podcast as much for you as for me. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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007: Judith Glaser, Conversation 1

Leadership and the Environment

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2017 58:42

Judith co-founded the Harvard Coaching Institute as well as her own consulting and coaching firms -- Benchmark Communications and Creating WE -- through which she has worked with culture-setting companies such as Apple, Burberry, and Donna Karan. She's written seven books. She's on the board of Expeditionary Learning. And more, so if credentials are important to you, she has them. Yet she's almost counter-cultural in her way of going against the mainstream grain when it holds her or her clients back. Yet she's friendly and approachable. Since she lives a subway ride away from me, I met her in person, which made our conversation more friendly and behind-the scenes. I'm nerdy and look at the world more conventionally than she does, so we'll see a different way of looking at the environment, science, and nature than my usual way. She talks about her big breaks, making mistakes and rolling with them. She walks through how to use her books and materials. You can see how she's gotten great clients and speaks to such prominent organizations See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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007b: Judith Glaser, Conversation 1: A different environment

Leadership and the Environment

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2017 27:17

A 30-minute highlight version of conversation 1 with Judith Glaser. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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328: How to Deal with Opponents and Adversaries, with Peter Block

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2017 36:42

Peter Block: The Empowered Manager Peter Block is an author, consultant, and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community. He is the author of several best-selling books, including Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used*, Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest*, and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work*. Key Points We become “political” at the moment we attempt to translate our vision into action. Leadership is the capacity to initiate an alternative future. Most organizations are conflict-averse. Being “political” wasn’t always a bad thing. The meaning has been distorted. Pursue your interests but in a way that honors the interests of others. Power comes from a willingness to be vulnerable. When you’re vulnerable, all you’re doing is acknowledging what the world already knows. As soon as people start complaining, they’ve chosen helplessness. When we have strong negative reactions to people, it’s our projection. Types of people in the workplace: Allies = high agreement / high trust Opponents = high trust / low agreement Bedfellows = low trust / high agreement Adversaries = low trust / low agreement Fence Sitters = low trust / unknown agreement Resources Mentioned The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work* by Peter Block Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used* by Peter Block The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work* by Peter Block Book Notes Download my highlights from The Empowered Manager in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Handle a Boss Who’s a Jerk, with Tom Henschel (episode 164) How to Tame Workplace Incivility, with Sharone Bar-David (episode 210) Leadership Lessons from the Challenger Disaster, with Allan McDonald (episode 229) How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

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328: How to Deal with Opponents and Adversaries, with Peter Block

Insight To Action Inspirational Insights Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2017 36:42

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Conversational Neuroscience with Judith Glaser

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2017 24:54

Conversational intelligences, the art of not triggering the cave-brain, when faced with low trust and high uncertainty, is directly informed by neuroscience. Host Dawna Jones and CreatingWE's Judith Glaser talk about the power of:conversation understood through neuroscience to create more human workplaces;questions asked in complex change and the art of creating safety;non-judgement on children's academic performance;communicating through transparency and truth to create trust;quality conversations in transforming workplace cultures. Dawna Jones, host of the Insight to Action podcast, is business change innovator specializing in the deep dynamics of transformation at a human and organizational level. Deep skills for leading and decision making in complexity equip business leaders with the awareness to stay effective and balanced while handling uncertainty. She blogs monthly for the Huff Post Great Workplace Cultures; wrote Decision Making for Dummies and contributed a chapter on the new purpose of business and deep dynamics to Ervin Laszlo’s The Intelligence of the Cosmos. You can find Dawna on Twitter EPDawna_Jones and on LinkedIn.Intro music is provided by MarkRomeroMusic.com. Mark’s music is scientifically proven to restore coherence to the human body. (You feel better!) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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What Was Steve Job’s Strategy with Professor David Yoffie and Conversational Intelligence with Judith Glaser

Talk With Francesca

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2017 55:26

We are a culture that idolizes "geniuses." But what are the traits that people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have in common that made them so successful? Professor David Yoffie stops in to tell us what you can do to emulate these modern success stories.

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Judith Glaser: Conversation is the Most Underused Innovation Tool

How Success Happens

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2017 35:28

Judith Glaser: Conversation is the Most Underused Innovation Tool

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Episode 70: Judith Glaser – Conversational Intelligence

Bregman Leadership Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2017 21:39

Are your words building trust and enabling your colleagues to do their best work? Judith Glaser asserts that humans are wired to be profoundly impacted even by simple conversations.

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Conversational Intelligence® with Judith Glaser

Change Management Review Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2017 33:58

Summary: In this episode of the Change Management Review™ Podcast, Theresa Moulton interviews the world's leading authority on Conversational Intelligence®, WE-centric Leadership, and Neuro-Innovation, Judith Glaser. She is an Organizational Anthropologist and one of the most pioneering and innovative change agents, consultants and executive coaches, in the consulting and coaching industry. In addition, she

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Conversational Intelligence® with Judith Glaser

Change Management Review Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2017 33:58

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Do You Suffer from MSU Disorder? The Grave Temptation to Make Stuff Up. #008

Repurpose Your Career | Career Pivot | Careers for the 2nd Half of Life | Career Change | Baby Boomer

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2016 19:04

In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “Do You Suffer from MSU Disorder? The Grave Temptation to Make Stuff Up,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life. Key Takeaways: [1:44] Bill writes for a major financial company. He said his dream job is to write for The Economist. How did he know? What did he know about the company? All he knew was the content they produced. He was making stuff up, to fill in the blanks of his knowledge. [3:30] Judith Glaser says, “The stories we make up have significant impact on our careers.” MSU can cause you to go after jobs that would make you miserable, or prevent you from pursuing a great job, out of fear. It can cause people to lose confidence in you, if you present as fact things you have just assumed to be true. [4:28] It’s perfectly human to MSU, when the information is not there, but when it comes to your career, don’t do it! We cause ourselves pain by ‘awfulizing’ situations. [5:03] Rhoda, a former CEO, had applied for a job as a COO of a national association. She was excited about the job, and felt like the feeling was mutual. When she didn’t hear back, though, she looked at their website and saw something she misunderstood, and began to panic. Marc suggested she call the company. When she did, she got the facts. [6:13] Marcos was in a long negotiation with a prospective employer. Every question Marcos had took a long time to get resolution. Every time, his anxiety increased. He was in a panic. Marc encouraged him to call the recruiter (who had been absent with a very ill mother). Eventually Marcos did get the job. [7:24] Susan started a new job with a major drug company, and knocked the ball out of the park. They loved her. But when her division announced a 200 headcount reduction, she went into panic mode. One day later, she learned she was to lead a highly-prized project. She had ignored every sign that she was highly-valued. She just MSU. [8:17] Sally works from home. She meets with her boss to show him her activities, and he criticizes the list abusively. This has been their pattern for years. Marc suggested that the next time, she go without a list. Her boss had not asked for one. Although she MSU and became fearful beforehand, he took notes on her activities, without a problem. [10:48] Take a mental bookmark of all the times you have panicked about something, and it turned out you were wrong. Think back to all the times you have awfulized something. Someone didn’t call within a given window that you made up, and you assumed something terrible had happened, or was about to happen, that was false. [11:41] The best thing to do is to realize that you don’t know what’s happening. Make reasonable efforts to get answers, and breathe through the moment. You don’t know, and that’s OK. [12:08] Stop drop, and roll. Don’t panic. Mary has a boss who is rude on the phone. She let her boss’ call go to voicemail while she was in a meeting, then texted to see how she could help her. It was simply to let her know that her boss was on her way. [14:09] Manage communications. Nancy’s boss said she was not easy to work for. Nancy dreamed up awful situations that caused her to panic. She avoided her boss. Marc suggested having a weekly planning meeting. It turned out her boss was just moody. [16:48] Describe situations where you made stuff up. Write out the story you dreamed up. How did it compare to the facts? Have you tried to create a stop, drop, and roll process? I now find myself catching myself when I start to MSU! Mentioned in This Episode: CareerPivot.com CareerPivot.com/blog Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller, available in early 2017 Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results, by Judith E. Glaser Take a moment — go to iTunes, or any of the other sources for the is podcast, subscribe, and leave a review!

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271: How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2016 37:54

Judith Glaser: Conversational Intelligence Judith Glaser is an Organizational Anthropologist. She is one of the most pioneering and innovative change agents, consultants, and executive coaches, in the consulting industry and is the world’s leading authority on Conversational Intelligence, Neuro-innovation, and WE-centric Leadership. She is a best-selling author of seven business books including her newest best seller Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results. Key Points Great conversation leads to great relationships, which leads to great culture. Level I conversations are about resistance Level II conversations are about “wait and see“ Level III conversations are about co-creation When we are threatened by others, cortisol can linger for 26 hours. Children have the same capacity for conversational intelligence that adults do, but only if we have the courage to nurture their growth. Resources Mentioned Conversational Intelligence by Judith Glaser Conversational Intelligence website Activate Your Free Coaching for Leaders Membership Get immediate access to my free, 10-day audio course, 10 Ways to Empower the People You Lead. Give me 10 minutes a day for 10 days to get the most immediate, practical actions to become a better leader. Join at CoachingforLeaders.com. Related Episodes CFL91: How to Listen When Someone is Venting CFL161: How To Address Difficult Conversations CFL177: How to Start a Conversation With Anyone Next Episode Murial Maignan Wilkins appears to help us discover how to improve our executive presence. She’s the co-author of the book Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence. Thank You Submit your question for consideration on the next question and answer show the first Monday of every month at http://coachingforleaders.com/feedback

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271: How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser