Podcasts about strengthsfinder

"Someone said to me recently, 'You're so lucky that you get to work at home and do this stuff.' And I said, 'Luck has nothing to do with it. I consciously created my life. I love it because it's mine. I made it.'" In this episode, podcast host Sarah Elkins and ghostwriter and publisher Lana McAra discuss Lana's unique approach to publishing and her deep understanding of what it takes to be an effective ghost writer for fiction and nonfiction books. Lana grew up in an Amish community in Pennsylvania, but wasn't raised in an Amish household. Growing up on the edge of that tightknit community fostered her ability to provide a detached, professional listening style, allowing Lana to draw out client vulnerability without personal entanglement. Her approach to ghost writing and guiding authors in her publishing business is "co-creation". She's a guide, someone who listens to ideas and gently engages the writer or co-creator with questions that shift the conversation, pulling a thread that the co-creator might not have even noticed was unraveling - in a beautiful, thoughtful way. Highlights: "Slow Down and Listen" is her Guiding Principle: A personal realization that "life is lived in between" the big events drives Lana's practice of slowing down to be fully present, which she sees as the key to connection. Lana's active listening—reflecting back her nearly 80 year old client's ideas simplified his complex philosophical ideas into simpler terms—and made him feel truly understood. The client's demeanor transformed into a "sweet collaboration." Client Quote: "There aren't many people that I can talk to about this... except for you." Lana homeschooled seven children for 25 years. Method: Used hands-on projects (e.g., decoupage placemats from Christmas cards) to create a relaxed environment. Result: These activities fostered natural conversation and connection, replacing bickering with "magical" moments. Quotes: "Life is lived in between. Life is lived in the moments in between the big events. It's those moments when life is really, really happening." "If I sit quietly with them [ghostwriting clients] for a few minutes, I can ... tune in to where they're coming from through this active listening that I've learned to do over the years. Then I can hear them at that deeper level, [I hear] what's going on behind the words." "I have a publishing company that is a traditional publisher but we do it a different way, ... the author keeps all their rights. They keep creative control and still get the wide distribution and support that you would expect from a traditional publisher." --- Listeners, now it's your turn: What did you get from this conversation? Maybe you're going to go look for the Object Diaries podcast hosted byLisa Weiss. Maybe you're going to pick out your object that becomes the focal point of a story. Will you realize that you have a great story in you and you just need a little help to craft it? I'd love to hear your thoughts after you listen to this episode send me a message go to elkinsconsulting.com or send me a message on LinkedIn or Instagram. About Lana: Lana McAra is an award-winning, international bestselling author and ghostwriter of more than 50 books with over one million copies sold. Founder of Vendela Publishing, she works with writers who want to build long-term careers and reach readers beyond the algorithm. Lana has spent more than two decades teaching fiction writing and speaking to writers about the business of publishing. Learn more by visiting her links - https://www.lanamcara.com/ https://vendelapublishing.com/ https://substack.com/@inthewriterschair About Sarah: Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

Pastor Courtney on the Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, Strengths Finder, and why personality tests can be helpful tools for loving our neighbors and ourselves

On this episode of White Coat Radio, we're joined by Dr. Debbie Byrd, Dean of East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. She discusses the latest news regarding state funding and reduced tuition, the college's 20th anniversary, her philosophy for overcoming challenges, and answers questions from student pharmacists Dean Byrd is celebrating her 10th anniversary as dean of Gatton this year. In March, she was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Pharmacy Academy by the National Academies of Practice (NAP), a prestigious honor that recognizes excellence and leadership in interprofessional health care. TRANSCRIPT: Dean Debbie Byrd I also view challenges as opportunities because I've seen that play out that when we do have those obstacles, many times they have resulted in some of our greatest successes.   Michele Williams Welcome to White Coat Radio, a podcast from East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy in Johnson City, Tennessee. Each episode, we cover a wide range of topics about the pharmacy school experience, from study tips to deep dives with faculty and students pharmacists. I'm one of your hosts, Doctor Michele Williams, assistant professor and director of academic success.   Stephen Woodward And I'm Stephen Woodward, marketing and communications manager. On this episode, we chat with Doctor Debbie Byrd, dean of ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. This year, Doctor Byrd is celebrating her 10th anniversary, coming to Gatton as Dean in 2016. In March, she was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Pharmacy Academy by the National Academies of Practice (NAP), a prestigious honor recognizing excellence in leadership and interprofessional health care.   Stephen Woodward Learn more about Doctor Byrd on our website e-t-s-u dot e-d-u slash pharmacy. Now let's get to our interview. Well, Dean Byrd, welcome to White Coat Radio.   Dean Debbie Byrd Yeah. Thank you for having me. Glad to be here. It's great to have you here.   Stephen Woodward We'll start by telling us what is a typical day. Being a dean look like.   Dean Debbie Byrd You know, there's not a typical day. But I think that's probably one of the things that I enjoy most is just the variety and, you know, the work that I get to do internal to the college, which you know, most in the college would be, you know, very familiar with and, but there's also a lot of external work at the university and then even beyond the university.   Dean Debbie Byrd So, a lot of my time is spent problem solving. I've described myself as a fire chief sometimes, putting my fire hat on putting out fires. But it's it's usually not to that, that level, but it's, a lot of serving as a, as a soundboard for people. It's been a lot of time in meetings. And that's where a lot of that, you know, problem solving and coaching and, and just, you know, hearing what, what others have in mind to do. I know when I was new to this position, I was very taken aback by all the meetings or how much time I was spending in meetings. And I remember, talking to my boss at the time, Wilsie Bishop. And I said, you know, when I've just. I'm in meetings all the time. I went, when does. When will I do my work, you know, as these, and this is my first job as a dean, and she, you know, paused and smiled and looked at me and said, this is the work that is that is the work which is very different from what I had done previously. But, you know, whether it's meeting with, members of the leadership team or executive committee individually, or, you know, as a group, with the faculty council, we have the dean student advisory Committee today. I was kind of I had to think about it a little bit because there are so many different things. But, just all of the stakeholders within the college, and our alumni here, those, those meetings go on on a, on a pretty regular cadence. But then at Etsu, there are a number of different councils that I serve on the university council, academic council, deans, council meeting, council deans meet on a regular basis. So, you know, all of those things are, you know, trying to make things better, whether it's here at the college or at the university that, you know, even beyond the university, there's opportunities to, you know, work on behalf of the profession or the college in terms of advocacy with legislators. College has been very active with the Johnson City, Washington County Chamber of Commerce. So, yeah, there's just so many, folks to to meet with. And then there's lots of events that we have, at the college. And so I just represent the college in a lot of different, arenas.   Stephen Woodward Great. Thank you for sharing.   Michele Williams So the college's, of course, celebrating its 20th anniversary this academic year. What do you think are some of the biggest challenges the college is facing?   Dean Debbie Byrd You know, that's a great question. And I can say I think that, you know, Gaten is facing any challenges that are unique to us that are really any different than other colleges or schools of pharmacy or, or just higher education, in general. But challenges in general, I do think are accessibility and affordability for our students, is really paramount.   Dean Debbie Byrd The perception of the value of higher education, I don't think that that pharmacy faces, that as much as maybe other, degree programs, because the return on the investment for, a doctor pharmacy degree is pretty clear. You know, it's was life changing for me as a first generation college student. You know, really, generational change can come about, for those students who have those opportunities. And that's why that accessibility and affordability is so, important. Yeah. For us to focus on, I also have a philosophy which I would say is something that has developed, especially since becoming a dean is, I used to have the perspective of, I could prevent problems, you know, if I planned well and and that's true to a degree. But you can't plan away all the potential problems that that pop up. And so that perspective has changed as I've gotten wiser. But I also view challenges as opportunities because I've seen that play out that when we do have those obstacles, many times they have resulted in some of our greatest successes. That's so true as a college. And that's not at all how I used to think about problems. So I think it's important, important to have that mindset of just not that we like problems, but just embracing them. But they inevitably pop up and think of them as opportunities to, you know, make something better for someone. You know, face them with optimism and creativity because you might as well, and just roll up our sleeves and, and get to work.   Michele Williams That's, that's one of the things that I really love about working here and working with you is that when a problem comes up, there have been times when you come to my office and said, what are we going to do about this?   Dean Debbie Byrd Yeah, I, I love that. Yes. Like, oh, okay, let's problem solve us figure it out. So yeah. Yeah. Because it's not an option you know not to address the problem. It's that way. So we might as well. ...Yeah. And and I certainly don't have all the answers. And so, you're not the only person that I, that.... Well, what do you think about this? Yeah. You know, our, thinking about this. What do you think about that? To try to get to the best solution for whatever it may be?   Stephen Woodward Well, kind of along those lines, what are some of the those opportunities that you see for the college?   Dean Debbie Byrd Yeah. You know, I think there's no question that excellence is an important part of our culture here. So, we're always looking for ways to improve things, to make things better, whether that's, you know, for students or faculty or staff, you know, how do we just just make things run smoother in some cases, take something that's that's good and make it great. But we have made the most of some of our challenges here at the college. But I think some of the things, thanks are thanks are, are. My gosh, I probably should not go it, you know, we don't have any major, major things going on right now. We've had some major initiatives that the college is, is, you know, kind of bringing to fruition now a major curricular revision as one example, where I do want to give, you know, faculty and staff major kudos for that work because, you know, not only did they, you know, revise the curriculum, which happens periodically everywhere, but something that our faculty did really combined, you know, that academic excellence piece and, and thinking about student success, but they also really considered well-being in that and well-being in the perspective of, you know, what's the best combination to help our students perform at their very best? And to that end, you know, we looked at a lot of data and found that our curriculum at that time, before we revised it, had more credit hours than most programs in the country. And, and at that time, our students weren't performing where we would like for them to have been. We were thinking about the now flex. We were more, you know, just around the average or maybe just slightly above average. And so part of that we felt like, maybe it's just too much and there's a point of diminishing returns. And I think we can reach that with our students, that we were just overwhelming them in terms of just information and time. And, and so they were very thoughtful. The faculty were in really bringing it back to the essentials of, of what do our students need, to be the best pharmacists and to perform at their very best and to, to really, you know, learn and retain everything. It's not, you know, if you're just you can give them everything. But if they're only going to retain a third of it, what what's the point? And they've really given that a lot of consideration. So so with that in mind, you know, there's been a lot of, work at the college over the years about, student will be that I think, now we've shifted to, to think more about faculty and staff will be about the college. And, you know, there's a we oh, you're often, very data centric here as well. So, you know, there's a, faculty and staff well-being survey that's going to go out to get some good information. But during work that's already happened, several years ago, I served on, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. I had a, a faculty workload task force and, trying to come up with, you know, the ideal workload policy and, and just the best practices when it comes to that. And one of the most important things was, just transparency and and helping, you know, faculty understand what the what the expectations are and matching that with effort. And the university is now embarking on some of that work with, workload policy and promotion of tenure guidelines. And so, you know, with that in mind, you know, that's something that aligning those things, I think is going to help, our faculty and staff will be, and then also just growing our faculty and staff as our enrollment has continued to grow. Obviously, that's going to help a lot with workload and supporting developmental opportunities. And then nurturing our positive culture. You know, that's a foundation that was laid at the very beginning. And I think it is something that could be taken for granted. If, if we're not intentional about nurturing that culture. So I think that's something that we're all very committed to. But I also think, as we consider, you know, bringing in new faculty and new staff, that we have to be very, considerate of that and making sure that that we bring in people that will continue, you know, this culture that's been built and, and supported for so long, you know, research and scholarship is something that is, is an Etsu initiative. I serve on their research, strategic planning task force. And so with that in mind, you know, how do we create opportunities for, for faculty to, you know, be more successful in those areas, whether it's setting aside time or, providing opportunities for collaboration, development? You know, our faculty are doing great work and there's no, no question, no shortage of great things for our faculty to share and write about. But I want them to have the opportunity to do that work and to ask the questions that they're passionate about and then share, you know, their findings with, with the world and, and practice. Transformation is one example of that that many of our faculty are very engaged with that's, unique, what they do every day, in their practice, and then I guess another opportunity and, and again, we're, we've been working on these things, but, just engagement and particularly alumni engagement. You know, when I first came here, there had only been a few classes that had even graduated. And so, we really didn't have any, sort of programing or anything intentional with our alumni. And so thinking about that, how do we bring those former students and those graduates back that we're so proud of, and give them opportunities to connect with one another and with the college? We started homecoming a few years ago, and, Etsu held tailgates last year. So, so hopefully those opportunities will continue to grow. We have another survey that's out with faculty and staff right now asking how how do we currently engage with our alumni, and whether it's in the classroom or with, professional organizations, student organizations where we currently dealing with our alumni. And then that's going to be shared back with the alumni and sort of sort of a menu of, here, here, the current opportunities and get their input on what else would you like me to be doing with the college and how would you like to, engage with that? So those are those are some of the things that I think are major opportunities for us on the horizon.   Michele Williams That's great. Yeah. So you mentioned the that our faculty are doing a lot of really exciting things. But in March, you were named the distinguished fellow of the Pharmacy Academy by the National Academies of Practice. Nap. And this is a prestigious honor recognizing excellence in leadership and interprofessional health care. Can you comment on this honor.   Dean Debbie Byrd And what it means to you? Yeah, it really does mean a lot because, throughout my career, I've been involved in interprofessional patient care. My practice, you know, was always with family medicine physicians. And and that work and within family medicine, residency training, practices in academic settings in some always worked in that you know, physician, pharmacist, interprofessional, you know, patient care model. And so, so that's something that's just been been part of my entire career, that practice piece and later the education piece. But I feel like that expanded greatly for me several years ago when, I was asked to be the interim dean for the College of Nursing. So I learned so much, you know, during that time period. And, and I was fortunate to be inducted with, one of my nurse faculty colleagues, at the ceremony last weekend. But, another piece of it that was, especially meaningful is I don't seek awards and recognition. You know, for myself, it's, you know, a college focus typically. And so, in this case, it was a nomination, you know, by a colleague that, I had given a presentation at, and a CCP meeting about the imposter syndrome, and, had encouraged him to, pursue something that he was thinking about. And, and he'd sent me an email several months later and said, you know, I did it and thank you. And then a couple of years later, he was he was inducted, and he was telling me about it, and I was like, oh, congratulations. That's really cool. And, and he said, well, you should be a member of this and I'm going to nominate you. So so that was special. Just that awesome connection as well. Yeah.   Stephen Woodward This spring we had some big news with state funding. Do you want to tell us more about that?   Dean Debbie Byrd Yes. I'm glad to you. So this is something that the college has worked on since 2017. When the college was founded back in 2005, the state really didn't have the funds to support a second college of pharmacy at that point. So the college was founded really based on a private tuition model. And because of that, is that being our only revenue, your tuition historically has been very high. So, you know, before we received any state funding, our tuition was as high as $38,000 a year, actually a little more than $38,000 a year, which was typical for a private college of pharmacy. But so many of our students are first generation. And, you know, come from rural areas. You know, when I came in as dean in 2016 and sort of learned, you know, the history, it just didn't seem fair. And it certainly limited accessibility and affordability for our students. Our debt load was significant as a result of that. So that was really the impetus for trying to achieve state funding for the college so we could pass that along to our student. So, you know, we worked on it for about six years before we received the first bit of state funding in 2023. And at that time, the state, appropriation was about half of what we asked for. And so we lowered tuition at that time. Actually, beyond what the state funding supported, with the idea that I guess the idea and the hope that we would receive the other half the following year, and unfortunately, we didn't it took us an additional three years to finally receive the other half. But in the meantime, I feel like that initial funding allowed proof of concept because our proposal was that if we receive state funding, we can lower tuition, our enrollment will increase. And particularly among Tennesseans. And so from, you know, 2023 to 2025, I guess, or the data that we shared with legislators, our enrollment went up from a class of about 45 students on average and had been for the last several years, to, I guess, the the year after funding, it was around 58 seniors and 64. Oh, wow. And and so this year we're expecting over 70 students grew in the percentage of Tennesseans that, you know, we we expected it to go up. But it was really remarkable that it went from, about 40% Tennesseans among, you know, our class, incoming classes to almost 70% at Tennessee and in our incoming classes. So we had those data. And by showing showing them that proof of concept that, you know, look, look what the state dollars, you know, have done. And then also, especially since 2017, there's a pharmacist shortage that has developed over that time. And so, there's a real need for pharmacists, and particularly in rural areas, that's where a lot of our students come from. They're willing to go back there. So, ultimately our tuition, was lowered and will go into effect July 1st, and it will apply to all of our students, not just our incoming students. For Tennesseans, tuition will be $24,785 a year, which will be significant savings for them, especially if you multiply that over four years. Their ultimate, you know, student loan debt will be significantly reduce over $50,000. They'll graduate with. And, tuition is also less for out-of-state students as well. So, our, our state tuition, starting July 1st, will be $30,329 per year. And really, our ultimate goal in terms of that accessibility and affordability was just to match the tuition of the other state school. We just felt like, you know, taxpayers, you know, our funding, the, the dollars that go to the state and, and, you know, that's who's going to benefit and that we felt like our students deserved, you know, the opportunity to to go to pharmacy school and, and then turn around and serve, you know, the people of Tennessee in this region. So, you know, it is very exciting to to finally, be at the point where we can offer that to our students. And I know they're very excited and, you know, we we expect, you know, ultimately, you know, our class size historically has been 75 to 80 students. And so, you know, we we did learn about state funding just with the legislative cycle until April. And our recruiting cycle is essentially done by the end. So we we didn't really expect it to affect, our class size for this fall, but we expect that we'll have, you know, full class and full classes going forward as a result. So, nine years total. We finally made it. We had some persistence going on, but I have to thank, President Noland for his support. We would not, have have achieved this without, you know, his commitment to the college and his willingness to, you know, really make us a priority, you know, this year and also in 2023 to, to make this happen. But also, you know, our local legislative delegation, you know, has always been supportive. And I would say they, you know, they were supportive from the very beginning. And in particular, Gary Hicks has been a huge champion on the House side. And, you know, from over that nine year period, you know, he was a new legislator whenever we started this effort. And over time, you know, he's become a leader in the House and and on the finance committee. And so, you know, that that time helped us in some ways to to have, some of our local delegation be in positions where they could have more influence with their colleagues. And, and then, you know, most recently with Senator Harshbarger, you know, as a pharmacist was very supportive of us as well. And, and I would say all the pharmacists, in the Senate, there are four pharmacists in that, Senate and the Tennessee General Assembly. And, and they were all supportive of us. And, and that meant a lot to you. So, so we're just we're just very pleased, to finally have this opportunity to to offer this to students. Yeah. One other, I think major piece to this in addition to that proof of concept that I was talking about earlier that I think really, helped, you know, push this across the finish line were our season outcomes? Yeah. Yeah. To be able to to, you know, show that, you know, we're worth the investment. And that students that come to get and we'll have, you know, a great outcome. And so, specifically speaking about our Netflix pass rate, you know, being top five in the country in 2023 and, again, with our class of 2025, I think definitely caught their attention. And many of the legislators that I met with commented on that. Yeah, they were they were impressed with, how well prepared our students are. And I think that helped them make the decision to be willing to invest in the college. And our students.   Stephen Woodward That's great. Well, thank you for your tireless effort and dedication to to doing that over the past nine years. Did you log how many trips to Nashville you've you've made it.   Dean Debbie Byrd I did that time. I probably should have stayed. Yeah, for sure I didn't, but, it's, you know, it was a long nine years, but, you know, I'd never had any, you know, responsibility before becoming a dean of interacting with legislators. And so I really came to enjoy that. Maybe not the trip. It'd be nice if I could, you know, just go across town, to meet with folks that, you know, just to develop those relationships over time and, yeah, you know, realize, I mean, they're, they're they're here to help us and that's that's their role. And, and, and they, they really work hard, you know, to help us. So I appreciate those relationships and the opportunity just to better understand the process and how things work. I really had no clear understanding of that either. So, it was a lot of work, but, certainly enjoyed it and were thrilled with the outcome.   Stephen Woodward Well, we asked some students to, to provide some questions for this interview. So P2 Bonilla asked, what has been the most challenging leadership decision you've had to make as Dean?   Dean Debbie Byrd Well, I think probably the hardest thing that, I have to do as a dean, unfortunately, it's very rare that it happens, but is to dismiss a student and, you know, any decision that affects a person, even if it's in their best interest, and it's the right thing to do is, is difficult. And, and I would say those decisions, because the question was, what's the most challenging decision? And the decision itself is, not necessarily challenging, you know, it's the right thing to do or that individual, and, and it could be, I think especially if you ask those questions, what is in the best interest of the profession of the university? What's in the best interest of the college, and what's in the best interest of the individual? Then the decision itself usually is pretty clear. And and how would I wish to be treated under these circumstances? The decision becomes pretty clear. But it's still, difficult to sure, you know, that you're, you know, going to cause pain for someone, even if it's in the short term and even if it is the right thing to do, it's always very difficult.   Stephen Woodward Brunella also asked if you weren't working in pharmacy or academia, what career do you think you would have pursued?   Dean Debbie Byrd Well, I initially I, I remember in the first grade.   (laughing)   Mrs. Highberger asked me to help her, do something. I don't remember what it was. You know, during recess one day, and I, I got off the school bus and ran inside and told my mom that I was going to be a teacher. When I grew up. And so that was, you know, my plan as a six year old and was was by playing for a little bit.   Dean Debbie Byrd And, and as I got older, you know, my family always, struggled financially. And so once I realized that maybe, being an elementary school teacher might not give me the financial security that was really, really important to me under those circumstances. And then I just said, okay, I guess I won't do that. And so it's been a real bonus career, you know, pharmacy school to be a pharmacist. I didn't think that I would get to be a teacher to. So I got to do both of those things that, another, I don't know if it would have been a career, for me, per se, but I had a backup plan going to college that, I was I was waiting for scholarships to come in and out. It was about two weeks before, classes started. I went to Middle Tennessee State University, and I had applied for one scholarship and hadn't gotten it. And I'd gotten, some Pell Grant funds, but it wasn't enough to to cover things. And so I applied come last chance scholarship to get and, and so my thought was, well, if I don't get that, then I was going to join the military and, to give me the opportunity to eventually go to college. I'm not sure if that would have been a career, but that was my my clear plan. At that point and then, maybe a more unique, career path that didn't come to me until about, I don't know, 10 or 15 years into my career. Just because I didn't know that it existed is forensic anthropology.   Michele Williams Oh wow.   Dean Debbie Byrd Yeah, totally. I  guess I didn't even know that was a thing, but, you know, Bill Bass is a forensic anthropologist, and that if you've read the Body Farm books, my my office at one point overlooked the body Farm, in Knoxville. And so, yeah, just the idea that you could, you know, look at bones to human osteology was one of your specialty areas or is one of his specialty areas. And. No, and not just, you know, is this male or female, but what kind of work they did? Because, you know, if they, you know, did work that, you know, required heavy lifting, like, you could see that in their bones that, so, I don't know, I was just I was fascinated by that. And so I kind of thought for the first time, well, you know, if I'd known this existed, I might have gone out On something like that. But I don't know. How many forensic anthropologist are really needed in the world. Whereas I think we need lots pharmacies now.   Michele Williams And lucky for us, you know. So, another student question that we have is from Ryan, who is actually the president of P-1 class. Class of 2029. His question is, leadership can be a challenging journey. Is there a specific mentor or role model who helped shape your own leadership philosophy? And what is the one piece of it of their advice that you still lean on today as the Dean?   Dean Debbie Byrd Yeah, there's there's not just one. You know, I if I started to name or try to name people, I would definitely leave people out. So, I think about, you know, the faculty member, I was an average student. And do not tell our students this all the time. I was a very average student in pharmacy school. Not for lack of trying effort, but, you know, I had a faculty member and preceptor that encouraged me to think about residency, and I'm not sure I necessarily would have thought about that. Even. You know, it's one of those things that, you know, sometimes a mentor is not someone that you necessarily are spending a lot of time with. Someone may just literally ask you a question, have you ever thought about it? So, I would just encourage, you know, everyone, whenever you see, something in someone and you're thinking in your head, oh, you'd be really good at, you know, whatever. Have you ever thought about to always ask those those questions?   Michele Williams It can be life changing.   Dean Debbie Byrd Oh, no, no, no, no doubt about it. And I mean, I had, you know, former students that, you know, went on to do something and years later would come back and say, oh, well, you're the reason I did this. And I would look at them in confusion and say, oh, remember that day? You ask me, you know, have I ever thought about. And no, I didn't remember that. But it does, you know, can make a real impact. So that's that's important. But I had other, you know, my residency preceptors, you know, who really, developed me exponentially. Department chairs, campus meetings and really, everybody I've ever worked for has has served as a mentor, the president and provost here. But fellow faculty and staff, meet your peers, you know, can be those mentors, because I do think a lot of it is just, you know, serving as a sound board and just being somebody that that listen, sometimes, you know, sometimes you know what to do, but you just need to say it all out loud and have somebody, you know, not at the end, you know, instead of running from the room that, you know. Yes, that's a good thing to think about that, you know, colleagues I've mentioned in professional organizations, certainly have been, students, teach me something. You know, every time. But I have an opportunity to interact with them. And it's interesting and just funny that you asked me because I had lunch yesterday with Wilsie Bishop, who, is the retired vice president for health affairs and, who I worked for for many years. And so, you know, she continues, at this point, even her in her retirement, you know, to serve as, as a mentor. But, my number one strength, according to Strengthsfinder. And I've taken it many times over many decades now, is learner. And so I think every experience that you have and every interaction that you have is an opportunity to to learn something and to gain something. And I think my experience has been that people are very generous. And so if you, you know, ask for advice or ask, to draw upon somebody's wisdom. So far, I haven't run across anybody that's been unwilling, you know, to to talk with me or, you know, listen to that dilemma that, I'm facing and, you know, give me their two cents. And so that's another encouragement that I would put out into the world that, you know, you never know until you ask. And, but it doesn't really matter who it is. I think sometimes we think, you know, a lot of the people that have the most wisdom and could potentially give the best advice are some of the busiest people. You know, in the world, potentially. And it's really easy to say, oh, gosh, I don't want to I want to bother them, I don't want to inconvenience them. But again, I found them. You know, it doesn't matter who you ask. I haven't had anybody turn me down. Yeah.   Stephen Woodward That's great. As we come to a close, is there anything else you'd like to to add to our listeners?   Dean Debbie Byrd You know, this is our 20th anniversary for the college. And, in July, I will have a big year, ten years. And so it's caused me to do, you know, some some reflecting, about the ten years and, and thinking about I don't think that I answered one part of the last question about, you know, what piece of advice of about do I lean on? And I, I think it's maybe a couple of things, you know, one is I mentioned earlier just treating people the way we want to be treated. I mean, many years ago, the college, did some developmental program with outward mindset. But that's really what it boils down to. But I think the other piece has is just being intentional, that, you know, just because you wish things were different doesn't mean that they're going to be different. That you're making those changes for the better and trying to think about, you know, how to make things easier, how to facilitate success, whether it's for students or faculty or staff. I think that's a big part of the job. And, you know, sitting here with you, too, I think the first new position that I created when I came here was the marketing position, and like you and. I kind of from that, you know, solving a problem I came here in realized I knew very little about this college, and nobody did. There were people in Johnson City that didn't even know that there was a College of Pharmacy, which is crazy to think about all the community support that we had. But, you know, I have lots of people, you know, moving to the area. So I was just then I was amazed by all the great things that were going on. So, you know, I feel like you've done a great job and, you know, getting the word out there about all the great things. And then maybe I'm not sure if it was literally the second position, but, we had a retirement and, academic affairs and we thought about, you know, what do we do? We want to just replace, you know, have the very same position, or do we want to, you know, reimagine what that would be. And that's when the director of student success position.   Michele Williams That was a great decision.   Dean Debbie Byrd But a lot of those, you know, student success efforts that that you have been led and, you know, we have relatively new student success coordinators. It's probably been the most recent addition to that. But, you know, we just are always thinking about, you know, who are our students. And as we've said, many of them are first generation, you know, coming from rural areas. And, and they, they bring, incredible assets that sometimes come with some things that have left them behind a little bit. And how do we take those, students that come to us with great potential and make sure that, you know, as long as they're doing the work, that they're going to be successful in the end. So just that intention with student success, you know, revamping our athletics prep, you know, is a big initiative that has certainly paid off, you know, for students recently. You know, admissions and enrollment is up. Yes, due in large part to marketing. But, you know, we have a full time recruiter, you know, now, and we haven't always had, you know, the ERP program, is something that is is new to the college, relatively new to the college. And I've mentioned, you know, some of the great engagement activities that happen. But, you know, there's those are all, I guess, circling back around to their problems or obstacles and some of the things that I think we're proud of, staff as a college came from a need to address, a problem or a situation as you have to see Will now.   Stephen Woodward Well, thank you for your service to the college and for being on the podcast today. We appreciate you coming.   Michele Williams Yeah. Thanks so much. Yeah.   Dean Debbie Byrd Well, thanks again for asking.   Stephen Woodward Thanks for listening to White Coat Radio. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe and leave this review to learn more about ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, visit us at e-t-s-slash pharmacy or follow us on social media @ETSUpharmacy. We'll see you next time.  

What if the real value of achievement isn't what it proves about us, but how it contributes to others? In this episode, I sit down with bestselling author, researcher, and publisher Tom Rath. Tom is known for books like How Full Is Your Bucket?, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Strengths-Based Leadership, and Eat, Move, Sleep. His work has shaped how millions of people think about strengths, well-being, purpose, and the way we spend our days.We talk about the difference between purpose and passion, why strengths only matter when they are used in service of others, how to think about career fit, and why retirement may not be the goal we've been taught it is. We also explore the role of AI in the future of work, and how it might free us to spend more time on the creative, relational, and meaningful parts of our lives.This episode is for anyone who wants to keep striving, but in a way that feels more grounded, sustainable, and connected to what really matters.Top 5 TakeawaysAchievement feels different when it is connected to contributionPurpose is not the same as passionStrengths need directionWell-being and performance are connectedAI may change how we work, but it can also create opportunityLINKS- Learn more about Tom- Read Tom's new book Life's Great Question: Discover How You Contribute To The World- Finding Meaningful Work with Tamara Myles and Wes Adams- Meaning and Mattering at Work with Andrew Soren--------------The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

How can leaders design work experiences that people don't just tolerate but truly love? Kevin talks with Marcus Buckingham about why love may be the most powerful force in business and why leaders need to take it seriously to create lasting behavior change. Marcus explains that leaders are experience makers, and the best outcomes come when employees and customers have "five" experiences, not merely good or acceptable ones. He introduces the five feelings that help create love at work: control, harmony, significance, warmth of others, and growth, showing how each helps people feel more fully themselves and more connected to the experience. Kevin and Marcus also discuss why many well-intentioned leadership efforts feel hollow when they skip the foundational feelings, how organizations can design love into everyday interactions, and why AI should support (not replace) the human elements that create trust, empathy, and connection. Marcus' Story: Marcus Buckingham is the author of Design Love in: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business. For over twenty-five years, he has been the world's leading researcher on strengths, engagement, and human performance. He began his career at Gallup and was the co-creator, with Donald O. Clifton, of StrengthsFinder. He is also the New York Times–bestselling author or coauthor of many books, including First, Break All the Rules; Now, Discover Your Strengths; StandOut 2.0; Nine Lies about Work; and Love + Work. He has two of Harvard Business Review's most circulated, industry-changing cover articles and has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, TODAY, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. https://www.youtube.com/c/MarcusBuckinghamTV Looking to Develop Stronger Leaders? Want help developing the leaders in your organization? Reach out to explore how the Kevin Eikenberry Group can support your team at info@kevineikenberry.com.  Book Recommendations First Break All the Rules — Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman Now Discover Your Strengths — Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton StandOut 2.0 — Marcus Buckingham Nine Lies About Work — Marcus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall Love + Work — Marcus Buckingham Design Love In — Marcus Buckingham An Intimate History of Humanity — Theodore Zeldin Sapiens — Yuval Noah Harari Guns Germs and Steel — Jared Diamond Like this? Solving the Culture Puzzle with Mario Moussa and Derek Newberry The Power of Embracing Life's Difficult Journeys with Payam Zamani Love as a Change Strategy with Mohammad Anwar

What if one of the most powerful drivers of performance, engagement, and loyalty at work isn't strategy, technology, or mindset—but love? In this episode of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer sits down with Marcus Buckingham, one of the world's leading researchers on strengths, engagement, and human performance, to discuss insights from his latest book, Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business. Marcus shares why organizations are facing a growing trust and engagement crisis, what leaders often get wrong when trying to motivate employees, and why creating positive experiences may be one of the most overlooked leadership responsibilities today. Tune in to learn: • Why love belongs in the leadership conversation • How positive experiences impact engagement, performance, and retention • The difference between managing people and helping them flourish • How organizations can create workplaces people genuinely love Whether you're leading a team, building a culture, or looking to elevate your impact as a leader, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on what drives sustainable success. ABOUT MARCUS BUCKINGHAM: For over twenty-five years, Marcus Buckingham has been the world's leading researcher on strengths, engagement, and human performance. He began his career at Gallup and was the cocreator, with Donald O. Clifton, of StrengthsFinder. He is the New York Times–bestselling author or coauthor of many books, including First, Break All the Rules; Now, Discover Your Strengths; StandOut 2.0; Nine Lies about Work; and Love + Work. He has two of Harvard Business Review's most circulated, industry-changing cover articles and has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, TODAY, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Connect with Marcus:   Order his book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647829917?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_TF6RMHSXMAGSAXKZ6EF3&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_TF6RMHSXMAGSAXKZ6EF3&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_TF6RMHSXMAGSAXKZ6EF3&bestFormat=true    Website: https://www.buckinghaminstitute.com/    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-buckingham/  About the Host of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer: Kristel Bauer is a corporate wellness and performance expert, keynote speaker and TEDx speaker supporting organizations and individuals on their journeys for more happiness and success. She is the award-winning author of Work-Life Tango: Finding Happiness, Harmony, and Peak Performance Wherever You Work (John Murray Business November 19, 2024). With Kristel's healthcare background, she provides data driven actionable strategies to leverage happiness and high-power habits to drive growth mindsets, peak performance, profitability, well-being and a culture of excellence. Kristel's keynotes provide insights to "Live Greatly" while promoting leadership development and team building. Kristel is the creator and host of her global top self-improvement podcast, Live Greatly. She is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur, and she is an influencer in the business and wellness space having been recognized as a Top 10 Social Media Influencer of 2021 in Forbes. As an Integrative Medicine Fellow & Physician Assistant having practiced clinically in Integrative Psychiatry, Kristel has a unique perspective into attaining a mindset for more happiness and success. Kristel has presented to groups from the American Gas Association, Bank of America, bp, Commercial Metals Company, General Mills, Northwestern University, Santander Bank and many more. Kristel's work has been featured in Forbes and she has had multiple TV appearances including NBC News Daily, ABC News Live, FOX Weather, ABC 7 Chicago, WGN Daytime Chicago and more. Kristel lives in the Chicago, IL area and she can be booked for speaking engagements worldwide. To Book Kristel as a speaker for your next event, click here. Website: www.livegreatly.co  Follow Kristel Bauer on: Instagram: @livegreatly_co  LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer Twitter: @livegreatly_co Facebook: @livegreatly.co Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer To Watch Kristel Bauer's TEDx talk of Redefining Work/Life Balance in a COVID-19 World click here. Click HERE to check out Kristel's corporate wellness and leadership blog Click HERE to check out Kristel's Travel and Wellness Blog Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.  Always consult your physician before starting any supplements or new lifestyle programs. All information, views and statements shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not medical advice or treatment recommendations.  They have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration.  Opinions of guests are their own and Kristel Bauer & this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests.  Neither Kristel Bauer nor this podcast takes responsibility for possible health consequences of a person or persons following the information in this educational content.  Always consult your physician for recommendations specific to you.  

433 Taking Steps To Take Better Care Of Yourself   In today's episode, Sarah Elkins discusses the importance of taking your time to enjoy the world, to enjoy being you, to take time to make sure You, Dear Listener, are healthy in mind, body, emotion, and spirit.    Highlights Encouraging healthy self reflection to lessen loneliness and division.  Acknowledging when you need help or a break is key to not only your own wellbeing but to the wellbeing of those you care for. Stop and smell the flowers. Life isn't a race. Take your time and enjoy the world you have helped to cultivate and get the gift of living in.  How our labels change as time moves, but so long as we know the shape of our souls we will be okay.    Quotes "This is what hustle looks like. Losing track of 'why' I'm doing something. Focusing too much on doing something without stopping to ensure that what I'm doing fits my values, my needs, and how I want to live my life daily."   "What makes things interesting and joyful to me, is knowing that a single label can't define me. I'm complicated, and so are you." "Will you take time right now or very soon to define success for yourself, without attaching money or income to that definition."   Mentioned in this episode   Bob Burg's episode The Go Giver Kevin Strauss LinkedIn Uchi App   Dear Listeners it is now your turn, Will you take time right now or very soon to define success for yourself, without attaching money or income to that definition. What is one thing you'll do today, tomorrow, and the next day to reach toward that definition of success, and the labels you choose for yourself, and demonstrate through your work. And how will you feed your own needs, your physical, emotional, and spiritual health so that you have the energy and enthusiasm and capacity to live your definition of success?   And, as always, thank you for listening.    About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

Most of us reach our 40s and discover something unsettling: the ambitions we've been chasing weren't entirely ours. They came from parents, from culture, from the two or three careers we happened to see up close. Tom Rath calls this looking through a pinhole, and he thinks it explains more midlife restlessness than most of us are willing to admit.Tom is one of the most widely-read researchers on how careers shape health and wellbeing. His books, including the instant number one New York Times bestseller How Full Is Your Bucket? and StrengthsFinder 2.0, have sold more than 10 million copies. His latest book is What's the Point?: Turning Purpose into Your Daily Superpower.In this conversation, you'll explore:Why only 50 jobs represent half the entire labor market, and what that means for the choices you made at 18The difference between a ladder and a garden as frameworks for a life and why one of them is making you miserableWhat headstones actually say (and never say) about what we thought matteredThe legacy question that most people answer wrong and what Tom's grandfather's final hours taught him about the purest form of givingWhy purpose is less about finding your calling and more about something entirely differentThere's a particular kind of grief that comes from realizing your striving belonged to someone else. This conversation is for anyone in midlife who's starting to ask whether the ladder they've been climbing was theirs to begin with.You can find Tom at: Website | Instagram | Episode TranscriptNext week, we're sharing our conversation with Bela Gandhi to talk about why midlife is actually the moment most people become more ready for a real relationship — and what's quietly getting in the way. Be sure to follow Good Life Project wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss any upcoming episodes!Check out our offerings & partners: Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the WheelVisit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeff Dudan's free digital copy of his book What does it actually take to build a culture that scales - one that doesn't collapse the moment you add a new layer of management or hire your 25th employee? In this episode, Jeff Dudan sits down with Chris Dyer, bestselling author and CEO culture expert, to unpack the seven pillars of high-performance culture that work for startups and Fortune 100 companies alike. Chris shares why most founders accidentally destroy their culture by day 50, why your meetings are a direct mirror of your company's values, how to use a "cockroach meeting" to solve problems in 15 minutes or less, and the counterintuitive hiring rule he used to drive real innovation inside a 4,500-person organization. They also dig into the critical difference between mistakes and errors, why public recognition can backfire on introverts, and how the Gallup StrengthsFinder data revealed that his company was hiring the same person over and over - killing innovation from the inside out. Whether you're building your first team or scaling a franchise, this conversation gives you the frameworks, language, and tools to build a culture that attracts the right people, retains them, and makes them extraordinary. Topics covered: company culture, startup culture, employee recognition, meeting frameworks, hiring strategy, innovation, psychological safety, franchise ownership, leadership development, StrengthsFinder, remote teams, cultural uniqueness, tribal language, mistakes vs errors.  Guest: Chris Dyer  Guest YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisDyer  Guest Website: https://chrisdyer.com/  Guest Socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdyer7/    #CompanyCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #StartupGrowth #EmployeeEngagement #FranchiseBusiness #TeamBuilding #HiringStrategy #CultureCode #RemoteWork #BusinessLeadership #ChrisDyer #JeffDudan #WorkplaceCulture Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jeff Dudan's free digital copy of his book What does it actually take to build a culture that scales - one that doesn't collapse the moment you add a new layer of management or hire your 25th employee? In this episode, Jeff Dudan sits down with Chris Dyer, bestselling author and CEO culture expert, to unpack the seven pillars of high-performance culture that work for startups and Fortune 100 companies alike. Chris shares why most founders accidentally destroy their culture by day 50, why your meetings are a direct mirror of your company's values, how to use a "cockroach meeting" to solve problems in 15 minutes or less, and the counterintuitive hiring rule he used to drive real innovation inside a 4,500-person organization. They also dig into the critical difference between mistakes and errors, why public recognition can backfire on introverts, and how the Gallup StrengthsFinder data revealed that his company was hiring the same person over and over - killing innovation from the inside out. Whether you're building your first team or scaling a franchise, this conversation gives you the frameworks, language, and tools to build a culture that attracts the right people, retains them, and makes them extraordinary. Topics covered: company culture, startup culture, employee recognition, meeting frameworks, hiring strategy, innovation, psychological safety, franchise ownership, leadership development, StrengthsFinder, remote teams, cultural uniqueness, tribal language, mistakes vs errors.  Guest: Chris Dyer  Guest YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisDyer  Guest Website: https://chrisdyer.com/  Guest Socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdyer7/    #CompanyCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #StartupGrowth #EmployeeEngagement #FranchiseBusiness #TeamBuilding #HiringStrategy #CultureCode #RemoteWork #BusinessLeadership #ChrisDyer #JeffDudan #WorkplaceCulture Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kelly welcomes Marcus Buckingham back to the podcast. For over 25 years, Marcus has been the world's leading researcher on strengths, engagement, and human performance. He began his career at Gallup and was the co-creator, with Donald O. Clifton, of StrengthsFinder. He is a bestselling author with a brand-new book: “Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most […]

432 The Power of Kindness featuring Joe Emery   In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Joe Emery discuss the importance of dispelling misconceptions, serving our communities, and  elevating voices of kindness and positivity.    Highlights The beauty of visiting places we've only seen in pictures or film. Misconceptions about places and people and learning the truth to be able to see the world for the better. Emotional storytelling and the importance of making people see the humanity behind the story.  The importance of being kind, patient, and empathetic in a world that is becoming more jaded. Remember that there is a human on the other side of the screen that doesn't deserve to be treated poorly because you don't like a post.    Quotes "That's something I really like doing, helping people who really need it." "We all see things everyday that we're not interested in, and it's amazing how many people stop to take time out of their day to comment."    Dear Listeners it is now your turn, What is it that drove you to be a fan of something? What is your obsession? Have you ever thought about where that could lead you or how it has contributed to where you are now? I think about a lot of the things in my childhood that made me want to meet people or to learn something or to read more and I'm curious what that is for you. And the other thing I want to know is what are you doing when it comes to seeing the one comment that is mean or one boss that treated you badly, are you still holding on to that or are you starting to see it for exactly what it is, that those people who are cruel have their own reason for being that and when you give them the greater voice over the people who are kind you're giving them this power  and you're taking away and reducing the power of people who are doing good in the world.           And, as always, thank you for listening.    About Joe Senior & Lead Digital Copywriter | Brand & Messaging Specialist | Tone of Voice Consultant Be sure to check out his LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram!   About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

431 The Art of Aging - Featuring Diane Place   In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Diane Place discuss the art and beauty in aging and how it allows us to collect amazing stories, learn new things about ourselves, and how we can use these experiences to help others.    Highlights Aha moments and how trusting yourself will most often take you to better places in life. Bringing in other story tellers to enlighten yourself with intergenerational, interracial, and interhuman connections.  Reframing aging and how we perceive aging, in that it is never too late to do anything and you don't need to step back just because of a number.  The stories we tell ourselves and the stories told around us shape our perceptions, and we need to take active steps to make sure that it is positive and healthy instead of cutting ourselves and others down.     Quotes "I've had "Aha" moments in my life that led me to make crazy decisions. Some of them didn't go so well most of them did because I trusted my heart." "Find connections with who we are not just what we've done." "We need to seek the new stories if we have some of those old stories. We need to ditch them. We need to erase them, and reinvent them."    Dear Listeners it is now your turn, What part of this conversation made you realize something about your own aging and maybe your internal messages that are affecting who you are and that you're modeling and sharing with younger people. If you're one of the younger listeners, under 50, what part of this conversation made you eager to hear the stories of people around you that you've only ever known skin deep? I would love to hear what resonated with you in this conversation.       And, as always, thank you for listening.    About Diane (From her LinkedIn) After years of dancing on the edges of my passions through a roller coaster life and career,  it was the coincidence of four lightning strike experiences: a cancer diagnosis, loss of a business, my 60th birthday, and a soon-to-be empty nest, that compelled me to dig deep to focus on what I truly wanted to do with my "one wild & precious life."     This became my "third act quest."   Our  "third act" CAN be the most exciting chapter in our life's story.   My mission became clear - to inspire women and reframe the perception & experience of what life can be after 50.    I've unearthed what had been calling me all along. Now, I couldn't imagine doing anything else!   ______________   Creating Third Act Quest to inspire and connect women 50+ is the most exciting and rewarding venture in my career journey (so far!)      I launched Third Act Quest in 2018, with the dream to reframe the perception and experience of aging through initiatives that connect and inspire women as they create the most exciting chapter in their life's story — their "third act." Third Act Quest initiatives:  the 333 Collective, "AHA" Third Act Stories, Quest Year, and QUEST, a biennial gathering & celebration. _______   My 35+ year career: - Leaps of faith to embrace my passions and talents to have an impact - My values and dreams are my GPS - Synchronicity  - Resilience   My professional career includes: a decade in Boston with an international ad agency; ten years with America Online (AOL/Time Warner) in a leadership role during the early days of the internet culminating in a role as Senior Vice President; and four unique entrepreneurial ventures.   In the early 90's, I founded a cause-marketing firm.  Later, post-AOL, I launched a photography business and The Global Design Post.  Though each of these experiences expanded my life and my mind, it's what happened around my corporate career, the breadcrumbs that I followed, that has driven me, and has been "calling" me all these years.  I've finally put my personal passion front and center. _____   All of your life's experiences; the highs & the lows, the turning points & transitions, shape how you see yourself and the world.     Within just a few generations, 30 years have been added to our life expectancy.  Our 50's & 60's can be a turning point; not time to step back, but time to expand, engage & thrive.  It can be our time to unearth dreams that have been buried and create a vision for how we truly want to live,love, work and contribute.   "What is it you plan to do with your one wild & precious life?"  (Mary Oliver)  Be sure to check out Diane's LinkedIn, and especially Third Act Quest!    About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

Carolyn Woodard covers two recent AI product updates and a thought-provoking question about what it means to use AI tools more personally: a new Claude for Small Business plugin that connects AI to the tools your nonprofit already uses, a ChatGPT model update that changes the default experience for anyone on your staff using the free tier, and an article from nonprofit AI trainer Tim Lockie that may challenge how you think about sharing context with AI.Anthropic launched Claude for Small Business as a plugin inside Claude Cowork, their agentic work environment. The plugin connects Claude directly to tools like QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, DocuSign, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365 through pre-built workflows for tasks like payroll, month-end close, and invoicing. Every action requires human approval before it executes. Nonprofits with a paid Claude plan already have access but need to make the connections in Cowork. The Claude for Nonprofits discount brings the Teams plan to $8 per user per month for qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations. A free AI Fluency for Small Business course is also included.OpenAI updated ChatGPT's default model to GPT-5.5 Instant in early May, rolling it out to all users including the free tier. The big change: the model now draws on past conversations, uploaded files, and connected accounts like Gmail to personalize responses. If your staff are using the free version of ChatGPT, their default experience just changed, and that matters for what your organization's data governance policy says about which tools and tiers are appropriate.Carolyn closes with Tim Lockie's recent piece "Humans Are The Loop," about building a private Claude project he uses as a personal thinking partner. He fed it his neuropsych evaluation, DISC profile, and StrengthsFinder results, and uses it to surface the patterns he is most likely to miss under pressure. This approach is in genuine tension with the data caution that guides most of our AI governance guidance, and Carolyn is still sitting with it. Worth a few minutes of your own reflection.Resources Mentioned:Claude for Small Business announcement — Anthropic — https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-for-small-businessClaude for Nonprofits pricing — Anthropic — https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12893767-getting-started-with-claude-for-nonprofitsGPT-5.5 Instant announcement — OpenAI — https://openai.com/index/gpt-5-5-instant/Humans Are The Loop — Tim Lockie / The Human Stack — https://thehumanstack.com/timlockie/humans_are_the_loopAI for Anyone course — The Human Stack — https://thehumanstack.com/academy/aiforanyoneElon Musk Loses Landmark Lawsuit Against Open AI — WIRED https://www.wired.com/story/musk-v-altman-jury-verdict/New every Tuesday. _______________________________Start a conversation :)Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.comon LinkedIn on reddit/r/nonprofitITmanagementon the Community IT websiteThanks for listening. 

Storytelling Strategies that Foster Connection with Sarah Elkins SHOW SUMMARY: What if your stories don't define you… but the way you tell them will? This week on Look for the Good, airing Monday, May 11, 2026, I'm diving into one of my favorite topics—stories—with storytelling and public speaking coach Sarah Elkins—whose powerful TEDx talk is helping people rethink how we share and listen to personal stories in order to find more common ground and build connection to each other one story at a time. And trust me, this conversation goes way deeper than you think.  Because here's the truth: It's not just what happened to you… it's how you've been telling it—on repeat—that's shaping your life right now. Sarah has an incredible ability to understand people quickly and deeply—often picking up on patterns others miss. Using a blend of intuition and a powerful personal discovery tool, she helps uncover strengths and insights with striking accuracy. And yes… there's a wild story involving Edgar Allan Poe's birthday that will have you looking at intuition—and maybe even your next business meeting—a little differently. In this episode, we get into: The hidden stories running the show behind the scenes How to spot your actual superpowers (not the ones you think you “should” have) Why your storytelling style might be the thing keeping you stuck And the moment Sarah said yes to go-go boots and joined a surf band at 40 This episode might make you laugh, raise an eyebrow, and then stop you in your tracks with one big question: Is the story you're telling working for you… or against you? So go ahead—strap on your go-go boots and come hang with us. Because your next chapter? It starts with how you tell it. Tune in Monday at 5am & 5pm EST: https://dreamvisions7radio.com/look-for-the-good/ BIO:"We got immediate positive feedback and there was a buzz in the room from the lightbulbs going off in people's heads." "Inspirational, entertaining, passionate…Sarah Elkins is a world-class presenter!” "Our members are raving! Her insight, expertise and engaging style got us thinking in new ways. Would recommend her highly and hope to have her back.” Sarah Elkins is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, keynote speaker, TEDx and DisruptHR speaker, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Sarah is a Gallup-certified StrengthsFinder coach and uses that assessment to guide teams in learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening. Sarah's clients stick with her year after year, benefitting from her integration and practical application of the StrengthsFinder assessment into everyday communication. WATCH SARAH'S TEDx TALK HERE: www.elkinsconsulting.com/speaker Want to find out when the next incredible episode of Look for the Good is dropping? Sign up for the Look for the Good Podcast Chat weekly newsletter to get behind the scenes insights, special tips, and insider only offers. Click HERE to sign up today! Learn More about Carrie here: https://carrierowan.com/

 430: Every Emotion Comes from Needs, Met and Unmet - featuring Morgane Borzée I thought I understood the connection between emotional intelligence and behavior, but I was missing a key component: "... we talk about feelings, but... At the end, every feeling has an underlying need. If it's a pleasant feeling, it's a met need. If it's an unpleasant feeling, it's an unmet need. And needs drive our behavior." This conversation with Morgane Borzée filled in so many gaps in my understanding of what I've heard referred to as trauma-informed coaching, teaching, and counseling.  If you're anything like me, you associated the word trauma with something dramatic, like abuse or neglect, death, major accidents, war, natural disasters, etc. Many of us don't feel comfortable using the word trauma to describe experiences in our lives that don't seem to compare with what we know others have experienced. But trauma in childhood can be something as innocuous as an underlying current of the repression of anger, financial stress and anxiety, sibling rivalry. And each person experiences it differently. Ask your siblings or cousins about growing up and they'll remember completely different episodes as traumatic - or not. Morgane suffered from severe anxiety as a young adult, and was referred to a therapist that she didn't realize was a trauma specialist. She thought she might be in the wrong place until she heard from the therapist that her anxiety might be coming from repression of anger. And she might be repressing anger because that's how she responded to her fear of the anger she saw expressed in her childhood home, among her family. "... for years, I was shortcutting anger with anxiety. So whenever a situation would make me angry, I didn't feel angry, I felt anxious." Her experience with the therapist not only gave her the tools she needed to start truly addressing the anxiety at that deeper level. It gave her the inspiration she then used to create an incredible platform to make what she was learning more accessible and approachable for others.  She took what she learned in academic, research-based, deeply intellectual settings, and translated into everyday language and characters that the rest of us can apply, learn from, and make real change in our lives and those of the people we influence. Highlights The word trauma feels big, feels significant, and it is, but it's also relative. Each person experiences it differently. Needs met and unmet are what drive our emotions and behavior. Listeners, now it's your turn. During our call, I started writing notes about my own needs and how they affect my behavior when they're not met: My need for respect and how that might show up in emotional responses and anger.   What are yours? A need for basic food staples in your house? If somebody gets upset when you run out of peanut butter or eggs, it may be a need in terms of food security that wasn't. What is a pattern of conflict or frustration that you've experienced yourself or experienced with somebody else that might be related to this issue? When your needs are met, you have a particular emotional response, and when they're not met, you have another emotional response. I'm curious to hear what came up for you, what patterns you've uncovered, and maybe what you're going to do about it.   --- From Morgane: I'm the founder of Equanima. I created it after years of struggling with anxiety and realizing how powerful emotional intelligence can be when you actually understand what's happening inside you. As a designer, I saw a gap between complex psychological concepts and what people can realistically use in daily life. Equanima exists to bridge that gap by turning emotional intelligence into clear, practical, and visual tools that help people understand their patterns, regulate under pressure, and live more aligned lives. Visit my website to learn more, and be sure to connect and/or follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. --- About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

429 Lynn Harris - Comedy, Creativity, and Community   In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Lynn Harris discuss the importance of comedy and creativity in the heart and soul of a community and how overcoming the doubts and assumptions of others can not only strengthen yourself but as well as the people around you.    Highlights How we defy the expectations and assumptions of others. If we can't talk about a problem we can't even begin to fix it. The power of community and contributing to it and encouraging others to contribute.    Quotes "As with all industries and all context; Girls would have to work twice as hard to get half the applause and half the credit." "That's something we've learned about community, is that it's not just us. It's -especially a creative community of any kind- there's skill building you can kind of do on your own, and some cases not all, but then what do you do with those skills? Making stuff in other words. So we really encourage our members to actually make things and actually do the thing and do the thing together."     Dear Listeners it is now your turn, What I love about this conversation is that accessibility to humor, and we all need this probably now more than ever in our lifetime. We need to find humor, we need to laugh together, and it is one thing that can connect us very similar to music and story. And I can tell you that in just a recent experience where I was talking to somebody on the opposite side of the political spectrum to me, I was reading a book by John Scalzi; When The Moon Hits Your Eye, and I asked him if I could read out loud that had made me laugh so hard I was almost crying, and it was one way that I connected with this person next to me. So I'm asking you listeners, what will you do to find humor today?         And, as always, thank you for listening.    About Lynn Lynn Harris is a culture-shifting producer, award-winning journalist, and author/co-author of six books. Her comedy and campaigns for social justice and gender equity have changed laws and conversations from Capitol Hill to NASCAR. She is founder and CEO of GOLD Comedy—the comedy school, professional network, and content studio where women and non-binary creators grow their comedy careers, build powerful communities, and make funny stuff. Harris co-created Breakup Girl (acquired by Oxygen), one of the first multiplatform internet success stories, and co-hosted, with Ginna Green, The Forward's A Bintel Brief: The Podcast. Lynn served as the first VP of communications at global human rights group Breakthrough, where her blend of humor and advocacy powered some of the team's most effective U.S. campaigns. She has also worked as a Tonya Harding lookalike, which is a long story. GOLD Comedy is the online comedy school, professional network, and content studio where women, non-binary creators, and other "others" build their comedy careers, join a powerful community, and make funny stuff that gets seen on all kinds of stages and screens. Unlimited classes, community, shows, and more, all online. Join from anywhere, anytime! Be sure to check out Lynn's Facebook, her personal Instagram as well as Gold Comedy's Instagram, and LinkedIn! As well as Gold Comedy and Gold Comedy Club!   About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

If you lead through the CliftonStrengths talent theme of Consistency, (or you know someone who does), this is the episode for you!     Today's Strength Snapshot is Consistency The Consistency talent theme is grounded in fairness, structure, and reliability. People with this strength are naturally practical, predictable, and efficient. At its core, Consistency is about creating environments where everyone is treated equally and expectations are clear. These individuals instinctively look for ways to reduce variance, establish standards, and ensure that processes are applied evenly. People who lead through Consistency often describe themselves as leveling, compliant, steady, and fair-minded. In fact, way back in the early days of StrengthsFinder, this talent was known as Fairness - then it later changed to Consistency. What motivates them most is a system that works the same way for everyone. They value predictability, clear rules, and procedures that make environments dependable and equitable.     When This Strength Is Thriving When Consistency is operating at its best, it brings stability, reliability, and fairness to any setting. This strength promotes cultural predictability, supports uniformity, and helps people trust that decisions will be made objectively. Consistency talent often shows up through productive team-contribution-roles like standardizer, systematizer, referee, or even as a rule-enforcer. These individuals shine when processes need structure and people need assurance that expectations are applied evenly. While others may focus on exceptions, Consistency focuses on fairness for all.     To close, here's a simple 5-minute experiment to try in the next 24 hours… Choose one routine or process in your day and intentionally repeat it the exact same way. Then notice how consistency affects your efficiency, clarity, or peace of mind.     Well, that's a wrap for today's episode. What small action can you take to show up at your best, given where you're starting today?

“If you understand your members, you'll know what products and services to offer.” - Rob NewberryThank you for tuning in to The CUInsight Network, with your host, Robbie Young, Vice President of Strategic Growth at CUInsight. In The CUInsight Network, we take a deeper dive with the thought leaders who support the credit union community. We discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions and identify best practices to learn and grow together.My guest on today's show is Rob Newberry, Senior Consultant at Abrigo. Rob's story begins about as far from finance as you can get—on a dairy farm in rural Iowa. His perspective was shaped not by what he wanted to become, but by what he knew he didn't, and that path eventually led him from an entry-level role in the mortgage industry, to a VP position at Wells Fargo, and later to building a company of his own focused on supporting credit unions and community banks!In our conversation, Rob calls attention to something that feels increasingly rare in financial services: genuine human connection. He deconstructs why relationship lending still matters and why the best lenders aren't the ones chasing the lowest rate but rather the ones who truly understand their members. His “Know Your Members” mindset is a practical way to think about risk, retention, and long-term value. We also get into the conflict that can come up between efficiency and authenticity. With AI reshaping workflows on the daily—from loan write-ups to risk analysis—Rob offers a fresh but grounded take on what technology can and can't do.As we wrap up the episode, Rob shares his thoughts on effective leadership, where in the world he would like to travel, and his love for live music. Enjoy my conversation with Rob Newberry!Find the full show notes on cuinsight.com.Connect with Rob:Rob Newberry, Senior Consultant at Abrigoabrigo.com Rob: LinkedInAbrigo: LinkedInBook mentioned: StrengthsFinder 2.0 by GallupFilm mentioned: The Terminator

Send us Fan MailAbout This EpisodeIn this episode, Leigh sits down with New York Times bestselling author and behavioral researcher Tom Rath to rethink purpose in a more grounded, actionable way. Tom explores why purpose is not one perfect calling or one perfect job, but a daily practice shaped by energy, alignment, contribution, and the small choices we make in the next 24 hours. Tom shares how his research, introversion, and experience living with a rare hereditary cancer condition have shaped his urgency, focus, and understanding of what it means to live boldly. This conversation offers a practical reset for anyone feeling misaligned, distracted, burned out, or ready to move from consuming to creating with greater intention. About Tom RathTom Rath is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose books include How Full Is Your Bucket?, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Eat Move Sleep, and Life's Great Question. His work, which blends behavioral research with practical insight, has influenced how organizations and individuals think about performance, wellbeing, and purpose. Tom lives with a rare terminal illness and has written extensively about work, health, and contribution with unusual clarity and urgency. Additional ResourcesWebsite: tomrath.orgInstagram: @tomrath_author LinkedIn: @TomRathSupport the show--------Stay Connected www.leighburgess.comWatch the episodes on YouTube Follow Leigh on Instagram: @theleighaburgessFollow Leigh on LinkedIn: @LeighBurgessSign up for Leigh's bold newsletter

Going back ten years to 2016, Sarah and Catherine Gilmore (@GilmoreGuide) dive into the annual Bookish Time Capsule episode and revisit the book world from that year. They cover big bookish highlights — from the buzziest books of the year to the award winners — along with what was happening in the wider world at the time. They also look back at their own reading from 2016, including their favorite releases, and share a quick round-up of listener-submitted favorites. This episode is overflowing with great backlist titles to add to your TBR!   This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog. Highlights The big news that was going on outside the book world Book stories and trends that dominated 2016 The 2016 books that have had staying power Big books and award winners for the year Reading in the blog years before the Rock Your Reading Tracker Sarah's and Catherine's personal 2016 reading stats Listener-submitted favorites from 2016 2016 Bookish Time Capsule [1:45] The World Beyond Books Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (2018)| Amazon | Bookshop.org  [3:09]  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [4:59]  My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2011) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [5:11] Ferrante's true identity has never been confirmed, despite multiple attempts by journalists and various theories pointing to different people. Book Industry Sales and Trends Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:02] The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:10] Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:21] A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2012) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:36] Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (2012) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:40]  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [10:45]  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:57]  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (2014) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:12]  Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:16]  StrengthsFinder 2.0 from Gallup (2007) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:20]  When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [11:30] The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:33] After You by Jojo Moyes (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:49] The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [11:52] The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [11:59] Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (2016)| Amazon | Bookshop.org  [12:36] Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (2004) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [12:49] Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:04]  Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:05] The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (English Translation, 2015) | Amazon| Bookshop.org  [13:32] My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman (English Translation, 2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:39] In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [13:51]  Big Books of 2016 It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [15:47] A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 2) by Sarah J. Maas (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [16:28]   Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [17:25] Pines (Wayward Pines, 1) by Blake Crouch (2012) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [17:57] Recursion by Blake Crouch (2019) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [18:17] A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[18:34] Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (2011) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [18:58] The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:29] James by Percival Everett (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [20:42] Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [20:51]  Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [22:10] When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [22:28] Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [22:46] Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [23:19] Award Winners of 2016 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [23:54] The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [24:06] Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [24:35] The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [24:51] Let Me Die In His Footsteps by Lori Roy (2015) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [25:50] Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [25:56] All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [26:05] Catherine's Top Books Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [27:46]  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[28:11] The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [28:35]  The Windsor Affair by Melanie Benjamin (June 2, 2026) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [29:03]  Before the Wind by Jim Lynch (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [29:57] Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [30:57] Miss Jane by Brad Watson (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [31:48]   Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [31:57] Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [32:08]  Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [32:40]  Sarah's Top Books Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [39:45] Shelter by Jung Yun (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [39:58]   All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun (2026) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:06]  The Mothers by Brit Bennett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:16]  My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash, 1) by Elizabeth Strout (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:22] Oh William! (Amgash, 3) by Elizabeth Strout (2021) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [40:38] Tell Me Everything (Amgash, 5) by Elizabeth Strout (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [40:47]   Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [41:05]  Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [41:30] Tender by Belinda McKeon (US Release, 2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:44] The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:03]  When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[42:05] The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue (2023) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:31]  Listeners' Top Books A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[44:14] The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:19] A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, 2) by Sarah J. Maas (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:35]   Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:47] Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [45:01]  Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:24] Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:30] Beartown by Fredrik Backman (English Translation, 2017) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [45:32] Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [46:40]  The Unseen World by Liz Moore (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [46:45] Long Bright River by Liz Moore (2020) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [46:58] The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [47:00] The Mothers by Brit Bennett (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:16] 

Summary In this episode, Andy talks with Stephen Shapiro, innovation expert and author of You're Not Playing With a Full Deck: Why the People Who Drive You Crazy Are Your Unfair Advantage. Stephen's journey starts with a costly failure: a $30 million innovation project at Accenture that fell apart, not from a lack of talent, but because everyone on the team thought the same way. Out of that failure came a framework built around a familiar metaphor: a deck of cards. Stephen introduces four distinct personality styles tied to the four suits and explains why teams missing certain suits are setting themselves up to struggle, even when everyone is smart and capable. In this conversation, you'll hear why unanimous agreement is actually a warning sign, how strengths can quietly sabotage performance when overplayed, and why the people who drive you crazy may be exactly who your team needs. Andy and Stephen also explore what the rise of AI means for the uniquely human qualities that only certain suits can provide. If you're looking for a fresh, practical framework to build stronger teams and unlock better results, this episode is for you! Sound Bites "We were smart people. We had smart people on the team, and we somehow failed miserably." "I realized I was the problem. And it wasn't just me, it was the way we constructed the team." "Anytime you have everybody agreeing, that's a warning sign." "I actually think the bigger enemy of innovation is, 'Wow, this is a great idea!' because then what ends up happening is we believe it's a great idea." "It's less of a personality test and more of an opportunity to just stimulate some conversation that typically doesn't happen inside of organizations." "Left to their own devices, diverse teams perform terribly." "So it's not just diversity, it's diversity plus appreciation." "I try to make it very clear to AI: don't agree with me!" "Part of this is who are we really versus who did we become?" "There's a difference between a strength and a strong suit. A strength means you're good at it. A strong suit means you're good at it and it energizes you because it's who you are at your core." Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:25 Start of Interview 01:37 When Teaming Started Going Wrong 02:52 Recognizing the Real Root Cause 03:38 Choosing Your Team Members 04:45 Similarity vs. Genuine Trust 06:00 A Real-World Team Turnaround 07:51 Overcoming Resistance to Difference 09:04 The Origin of the Card-Based Framework 10:47 When Strengths Become Liabilities 13:10 Warning Signs of Strengths Gone Wild 16:03 Meeting Personalities and How to Balance Them 22:00 How AI Changes the Human Equation on Teams 23:45 Which Personality Suits Are Hardest for AI to Replace 24:53 How Stephen Uses AI in His Own Work 26:18 Applying the Framework Outside of Work 29:42 End of Interview 30:20 Andy Comments After the Interview 33:36 Outtakes Learn More You can learn more about Stephen and his work at StephenShapiro.com/fulldeck. For more learning on this topic, check out: Episode 286 with Ruth Pearce. Ruth wrote a book about the power of character strengths, and she definitely comes at it through the lens of project managers. Check out episode 286 to learn more. Episode 283 with Tom Rath. Tom is the StrengthsFinder guy and it's an engaging discussion that goes beyond personality to what he thinks is the most important question you need to be asking. Episode 489 with Martin Dubin. It's an intriguing discussion about blind spots that, if you haven't already listened to, I highly recommend. Chat with PMeLa You can chat directly with PMeLa—the podcast's AI persona—to get episode recommendations and answers to your project management and leadership questions. Visit PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/PMeLa to chat with her. Join Us for LEAD52 I know you want to be a more confident leader–that's why you listen to this podcast. LEAD52 is a global community of people like you who are committed to transforming their ability to lead and deliver. It's 52 weeks of leadership learning, delivered right to your inbox, taking less than 5 minutes a week. And it's all for free. Learn more and sign up at GetLEAD52.com. Thanks! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Talent Triangle: Power Skills Topics: Team Building, Leadership, Cognitive Diversity, Collaboration, Innovation, Project Management, Meeting Effectiveness, Personality Frameworks, AI, Human Potential, Self-Awareness, Strengths, Organizational Culture The following music was used for this episode: Music: Summer Awakening by Frank Schroeter License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Music: Synthiemania by Frank Schroeter License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

What if the thing you spend the most time on at work won't matter at all when you're gone? It's a confronting question, but it's the kind Tom Rath lives with deliberately. He walks past a 10,000-headstone cemetery near his home in Washington DC and has never once seen a grave mention social media followers, email response times, or job titles. Yet these are the things most of us spend our days chasing. In this episode, I sit down with Tom Rath, one of the most widely read authors in the world of work and wellbeing and the man behind StrengthsFinder 2.0, How Full Is Your Bucket?, and his just-released book What's the Point? Tom challenges the "follow your passion" narrative head-on and makes the case that purpose isn't a grand discovery waiting for you someday. It's what you do for other people, hour by hour, throughout the day. We get into the single question Tom uses every morning to reprioritise his time, how to escape the comparison trap that platforms like LinkedIn are designed to pull you into, and why he believes the so-called initiators are the ones who will thrive in the age of AI. Tom and I discuss: Why "follow your passion" is misguided advice, and what Tom recommends doing instead when thinking about work and career The statistics on how much of our career path we unconsciously inherit from our parents, and what to do about it How strengths only really come to life when they're turned outward in service of another person Tom's "what's the point?" question and how to use it daily to reprioritise your time and cut through distraction Why resume virtues and eulogy virtues are so different, and how walking through cemeteries has sharpened Tom's thinking on what matters Social comparison as the single biggest tax on your sense of progress at work, and how to reduce its grip What a "shoulder hunter" is and how to find people whose thinking you can build on Why initiators will have a significant advantage over responders as AI continues to reshape the workforce Key quotes: "Passion is inherently more self-serving, where purpose is by definition anchored in what it does for other people." "Stop sleepwalking through your days and lives. The people who are continuing to do that day after day are in for a very rude awakening." Connect with Tom Rath on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn, visit his website at https://tomrath.org/, and check out his latest book What's the Point?. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd recommend going back and listening to my chat with educator and parenting expert Lael Stone, who talks about the power of understanding our imprints — the stories we tell ourselves that we learned in childhood — and how they shape how we show up in the world, and importantly, what we can do to rewrite them. Check out part 1 and part 2. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

427: Eat Your Feelings - A Cooking Show Demonstrating True Connection, Featuring Sam Nathews   Highlights from the show: Sam initially wasn't sure about cohosting the show with Cory! He can be shy about performing or entertaining people he just met. It didn't take long to realize how grateful he was that Cory was persistant in starting the project and about Sam joining the show. Sam shared how the show helped him process his grief over losing his mother, and how being able to talk openly about his emotions has been healing for him. He emphasized the importance of normalizing vulnerability, especially for men. The Eat Your Feelings show's format of transitioning between lighthearted cooking and deeper emotional discussions resonates with Sam because he sees it as reflective of the ups and downs of real life. Sam has been touched by the feedback from viewers (and the show's crew!) who say the show has helped them feel less alone in their own struggles and given them permission to be open about their feelings. Sam hopes the show can continue to provide a model for men to be vulnerable and support each other, especially in smaller, rural communities where that may not come as naturally. He sees it as an important service the show provides. Quotes: "...especially when you're in the midst of raw, sudden, super traumatic grief, a lot of the feelings and thoughts that come up can make you feel like this is not normal." "...we've all cried together. We've all laughed together, we've all burnt the skin off the roof of our mouth together, and it's really, it's just been a really fulfilling thing because of the relationships that we've gotten out of that and the personal growth I've seen ... with the crew on the show..." "...the tagline of our show is 'everybody's got to eat and everybody's got sh*t to go through." "...I think the feedback that I've gotten ...is 'thank you guys for talking about this stuff and just showing that it's okay for two guys to talk about hard things and what you're feeling and making it normal that it's okay to feel these things.'" --- About Sam: Sam Nathews is a brand strategist and storyteller, and the co-creator of Eat Your Feelings, a conversation series that blends food, humor, and emotional honesty. With a background in building brands and campaigns, Sam is interested in what happens when we drop polish and talk about the stuff we're usually taught to hide. He lives in Virginia with his wife, son, and golden retriever and believes some of the best conversations happen in the kitchen. Be sure to check out Sam's Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. As well as Eat Your Feelings on Youtube and Instagram. --- About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

Read my new book, "The Price of Becoming." www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk My Guest: Marcus Buckingham is a Cambridge graduate. He spent nearly 20 years at the Gallup Organization, where he co-created the StrengthsFinder assessment. He is a New York Times bestselling author of influential books, including First, Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths. Currently, he leads the People + Performance research at the ADP Research Institute. Key Learnings When you start a business, it's all about love. Seven out of 10 businesses fail, so when you start a business as an entrepreneur, you love what you do, you love your clients, and you surround yourself with people who can love it as much as you do. You all have this passionate delusion that what you're doing is really important and it's gonna work.  Marcus sold his company in 2017 and calls it the biggest mistake of his career. His company was broken down into silos, and the conversation became about maximization, compliance, and efficiency.  "Love is born savoring, it lives in intelligence, but it dies from neglect. Love dies from forgetting."  (Pablo Neruda) When you stop talking about love, you destroy it. Before you sell or scale, ask: Will this lead to more customers falling in love with your company and more employees saying they love working there? If the answer isn't obvious yes, then don't do it. Great companies protect the founder's flame. Walt Disney, Truett Cathy and Chick-fil-A, Apple's passion for design, Southwest Airlines, and Herb Kelleher. When companies lose their connection to the founding passion, they become the machine. The machine doesn't have a soul, and people can all feel it. Love is the most powerful force in business. If you want to drive productive human behavior, repeat visits, advocacy, loyalty, collaboration, high performance, the precursor to that is love.  But we don't say the word. Marcus was with 30 C-suite executives, and they spent two hours talking about data. They couldn't even say the word, love. They came to say it about customers, but never about their own employees. The job of a leader is to change human behavior. You're not paid to hit a goal. You're paid to change behavior so that you hit various goals. You've got two choices: directive (which works temporarily) or designing experiences. If you want sustainable behavior change, experiences drive behaviors, which drive outcomes.  The best leaders are skilled experience makers. That email you just sent? It's an experience. That meeting? It's an experience. Onboarding? It's an experience. Every touchpoint is picking up what you're putting down. Culture is just a series of experiences.  Either you are getting people to say "I love that," or you've failed to change their behavior. "If you are faking your beliefs, I can smell it, and I don't want to follow it." Authenticity is manifested in your beliefs, and they better be coherent with who you authentically are. Your customs are the living manifestation.  The things you customarily do have got to flow from your authenticity and your beliefs. The best leaders have their ABCs line up beautifully - they are authentically who they are, you know exactly what they believe, and their customs bring those authentic beliefs to life. The biggest driver of engagement is your local team leader, not the culture of the company. The culture is like the river, but there's a lot of different eddies. You join a company, but the sun, the moon, and the stars of your work is that local leader. The most important decision you make is who you make the leader of that team. A, B, C: Authenticity, Beliefs, Customs. We reach for authenticity in our leaders. We don't want perfection; we want authenticity because that leads to prediction. If you are authentically you, then I can predict you. I'm not expecting you to be perfect. I want you to be predictable. The definition of love to Marcus: Love is an experience that helps me feel more fully myself over time. Which is flourishing. Most of us go through life balled up like an armadillo, surrounded by armor plating. But inside of us, we want to take what's inside and express it. Love is a forward-facing emotion. We're anticipating goodness, and we have to take the armor off one plate at a time.  A question for all leaders:  What are the things I could practically do to get people on my team to feel like they are safe enough to express their best self on this team? The five sequential feelings of love: Control: "What's this world you've invited me into, and how does it work? " Harmony: "You have to tell people that you know what they're feeling." Significance: "Do you know my story?" Warmth of Others: "Who's with me? How can they help?" Growth: "How will this experience make me more capable?" If a leader understands the five feelings, they have a blueprint to get your team where you want them to go.  Marcus's Audi story: he loved his Audi, then at the end of the lease, he got a robocall. "You are at the end of your lease. You have not turned in the car. You have one week remaining, or you will be charged $500." He wasn't planning to turn it in. He was planning to get another one. Next week, same robocall. He leaned out. It was jarring because he was excited, and Audi was pissed off. They lost him for five years. Audi didn't take harmony seriously. They don't design for experiences; they design for processes. The person at the dealership is in a different silo than the person writing the script for the robocall. No one creates a holistic experience map. We don't design for experiences; we design for processes. Go to a hospital. It's one handoff after another. The person who's supposed to hold the narrative together is you, the patient. The whole thing has been designed for efficiency, not for a holistic experience. Undesigned experiences lead to unpredictable outcomes. Disney builds a berm around the whole park so you can't see out. You can't see the Red Roof Inn next door. Universal Studios doesn't do that. Six Flags doesn't do that. Why? Because Disney is trying to create a holistic experience. These companies think holistically about a human having an experience. The best leaders, when you ask "How do you motivate people?" always say "It depends." It depends on the person. At some point, the experience has got to be individualized. Don't start there. That's why this is sequential. Start with control, then harmony, then significance. Tell them you understand their story and what will change because of that story. The hospitalist movement in hospitals produced the best patient outcomes. They give each patient a guide all the way through the handoff process. Their entire job is to explain you to all the other healthcare professionals and to explain all the other healthcare professionals to you. As a result, you feel held. If you love anyone, you don't imagine they're ever finished. Love is a forward-facing emotion. Growth is the fifth feeling, not the first. We get this wrong when we think about designing love. We build it backwards. We start with growth and warmth. No. What's happening is feeling by feeling, we're taking off one plate of armor. If you haven't taken off the first four, you can't hit them with growth. The simplest thing leaders could do: check in with each of your people for 15 minutes, one by one, every week. Ask them:  How'd you feel about last week?  What are you working on this week?  How can I help?  Do that 52 times a year with each person individually, and you'll hit control, harmony, and over time significance. Marcus is creating an app with an AI design partner. He doesn't want his kids to grow into a world accepting loveless schools, loveless hospitals, loveless workplaces. The app will have a slider: loving/unloving. Let's call it what it is. It's love or not love. It's not okay to live in a loveless world, and we should call out unloving when we see it. Reflection Questions What would happen if you asked yourself before every major decision: "How does this help our customers love us more? How does this help our employees love working here more?" Are you designing experiences or just optimizing processes? What's one touchpoint in your customer or employee journey that feels mechanical and could be redesigned to feel more human? Which of the five feelings (control, harmony, significance, warmth of others, growth) are you strongest at creating for your team? Which one are you weakest at, and what's one thing you could do this week to improve it? Time stamps 00:00 Marcus Buckingham Intro 02:21 The Biggest Mistake: Selling My Company  05:55 Can You Scale Without Losing Love?  07:59 Protecting the Founder's Flame  12:03 Why CEOs Can't Say the Word "Love"  15:42 Your Job: Change Human Behavior  17:55 Experiences Drive Behaviors Drive Outcomes  21:42 Love Is Five Sequential Feelings  25:40 Jesse Cole and Josh D'Amaro: Real Love in Action  29:50 How Do You Prove ROI?  31:32 The Local Leader Drives Everything  32:09 The Scatterplot: Same Company, Different Experiences  33:43 ABCs: Authenticity, Beliefs, Customs  35:41 What Love Actually Means: Flourishing  38:28 The Five Feelings Blueprint  39:00 Feeling #1: Control (What World Am I In?)  40:28 Feeling #2: Harmony (Do You Know What I'm Feeling?)  43:43 We Design for Processes, Not Experiences  47:34 Feelings #3, #4, #5: Significance, Warmth, Growth  53:04 The Simplest Practice for All Leaders: Weekly 15-Minute Check-Ins  57:37 EOPCMore Learning #467: Marcus Buckingham - How Love and Work Must Be Forever Linked #305: Marcus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall - A Leader's Guide to the Real World #676: Jesse Cole - Built for the Fans (Obsession & Excellence)

426: Ending the Cycle of Family Trauma Featuring Sharon Weinstein "How did you ever come out of that household? How did you ever evolve into who you are and what you've become from that background?" We met in Washington DC at the final competition for the People's Choice speaker for the next TEDxUStreetWomen event scheduled on November 3, 2025. And when she won the coveted spot, all of us were thrilled. She earned it. In this episode we discussed her TEDx talk, "Think Differently to be Unstoppable", the use of the 4W framework to reframe personal trauma into recovery and growth. She shared insightful, powerful stories of how she modeled what she wanted to see in her children and family to end the cycle of family trauma. We also discussed her new book, Harmony by Design, replacing the concept of balance with a work and life integration. If you're curious to hear the story of that 18-month competition, listen to episode 421 featuring Kuti Mack. Highlights: 4W Framework Where am I? Assess your current reality, take inventory with honesty and clarity. What if...? Brainstorm different approaches and potential outcomes. What WOWs? Identify ideal outcomes given current resources. What is the best case scenario? What works? Find sustainable, repeatable solutions. Take small steps. Sharon's soccer story, choosing to start an adult women's league without any experience, so her children could see her trying something uncomfortable and new, and so she could be more aware of what her children were experiencing. Quote:  "...And sometimes the biggest question that I get from them is, 'how did you ever come out of that household? How did you ever evolve into who you are and what you've become from that background?' They say it to me all the time. 'Are you sure you weren't adopted?'" Watch Sharon's recently published TEDx! About Sharon: A global nursing leader, TEDx speaker, and advocate for personal transformation who empowers others to rethink what's possible and turn adversity into strength. A Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), she's an award-winning healthcare innovator and author. Founder of SMW Group and the #FromCrisistoCapacity framework, she develops nurse leaders and strengthens teams and organizations through resilience, stress reduction, and human performance. Visit, follow, and connect: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, website. --- About Sarah Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team's results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other's "language", learning to value each other's strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.  Sarah's nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness. Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.

Marcus Buckingham: Design Love In Marcus Buckingham is the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time and has three of Harvard Business Review's most circulated, industry-changing cover articles. After spending two decades studying excellence at the Gallup Organization and co-creating the StrengthsFinder tool, he built his own Coaching + Education firm and has been a prominent researcher on strengths, love, and leadership at work. He is the author of Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Most everyone who listens to this podcast wants to go way beyond just hitting numbers and achieving goals. In addition to that, we want so deeply to see the people the work with flourish in their careers. In this conversation, Marcus and I explore the sequence of five feelings that make this work – and why a lot of it comes down to love. Key Points Love dies, not from being killed – but from forgetting and neglect. The difference is massive in what we give a top rating to and everything else. Love is the deep and unwavering commitment to the flourishing of a human. Shift from leaders making decisions to leaders making experiences. The five feelings follow this sequence: Control Harmony Significance Warmth of others Growth Resources Mentioned Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business by Marcus Buckingham (Amazon, Bookshop)* Design Love In Lovethat.com Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Lead Top-Line Growth, with Tim Sanders (episode 299) Transcend Leadership Struggles Through Your Strengths, with Lisa Cummings (episode 692) Clarifying Values for a Workplace People Love, with Anne Chow (episode 712) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

This Uplevel Dairy Podcast episode shares the full Farm Forward Conference panel with attorney Will McKinley, dairyman Tommy Oesch, consultant Kristy Pagel, advisor Steve Bodart, and family farm coach Elaine Froese on building multi-generational farm transitions as an ongoing legal, financial, and relational process. They discuss testing next-generation commitment through projects, off-farm work, mentors, peer networks, and family bylaws; clarifying roles for siblings/cousins using tools like StrengthsFinder and DISC; and keeping farms aligned through regular meetings, celebrations, and quarterly financial check-ins. The panel contrasts successful transitions (everything on the table, commitment, compromise) with failures (stubbornness, toxicity, staying stuck), addresses estate tools like TOD deeds, revocable and irrevocable trusts, LLCs/corporations, and managing conflicts, cash flow targets, and the option to exit via sale. Final action steps emphasize alignment between spouses, writing letters, gratitude, grace, listening, and accepting continuous change.02:35 Testing Next Gen Commitment07:13 Best vs Worst Transitions10:21 Preventing Estate Disputes14:06 Future of Midwest Farms17:22 Siblings and Cousins Leadership22:25 Making Transition Ongoing26:23 Meeting Rhythms That Work28:29 The $2.50 Cash Flow Rule29:39 Cash Flow Under Pressure31:27 Trusts Explained Simply33:08 Irrevocable Trust Tradeoffs34:58 Estate Planning Resources36:13 Getting Honest Family Input40:25 Helping Seniors Let Go44:45 When No Successor Exists46:59 Why Ag Transitions Differ52:00 Family Stories About Land

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    This week's guest is someone whose work has shaped how millions of people think about their work, their strengths, and their lives. Tom Rath is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose books, including Strengths Finder 2.0, have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and transformed how organizations develop talent. For more than two decades, Tom has studied what helps people thrive at work and in life from strengths and wellbeing to leadership and meaning. His latest book, What's the Point? explores one of the most important questions we can ask: how do we turn purpose into something we actually live every day?    THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…anyone who wants to do more meaningful work, lead with intention, and better align their strengths with how they show up every day.   TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…80% of us go through our lives not doing what we're best at and that disconnect has a massive impact on our energy, engagement, and overall well-being. In this conversation, Tom challenges the idea that success comes from fixing weaknesses and instead makes the case for investing in what you naturally do best. He breaks down how leaders can create environments where people thrive, why well-being and performance are more connected than most organizations realize, and how small, intentional shifts can help you get more out of your work and your life.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: Your greatest opportunity for growth comes from investing in your natural strengths, not fixing every weakness. Well-being is directly tied to performance, decision-making, and long-term success. People do their best work when they feel energized, not just productive. Leaders play a critical role in helping others discover and use what they do best.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…Tom's reminder that doing your best work isn't about pushing harder, it's about aligning what you do every day with what naturally gives you energy and purpose.   Running Time: 28:55   Subscribe on iTunes    Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X    Find Tom Online: LinkedIn Website   Tom's Book: What's the Point? Turning Purpose Into Your Daily Superpower

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!Join Wendy for her dreamy Summer Solstice White Party on Saturday June 20, 2026 —an al fresco evening of delicious food, intention-setting, and celebration at the Phineas Wright House. Wear white, gather at the long table in the field, and toast to the season ahead. Save you spot here: https://www.phineaswrighthouse.com/the-shop/p/summer-solstice-white-partyIn this episode, Wendy sits down with Dana Williams, leadership strategist and author of Internal Revolution: Lead Authentically and Build Your Personal Brand From Within. Dana helps leaders stop performing and start using their unique CliftonStrengths—because we're 1 in 34 million with those talents, and nobody else was made to do what we were made to do.They explore:Why things are hard when we're performing but easy when we're using our unique talentsHow to manage your energy instead of your timeWhy procrastination is an indicator from your inner wisdom that someone else should be doing thisThis is a conversation about giving yourself permission to stop honing your weaknesses and lean into what comes naturally. Dana breaks down the four domains of CliftonStrengths (executing, strategic thinking, relationship building, influencing) and why partnering with people who have complementary strengths changes everything. Stop performing. Start leading. Start being you.Connect with Dana:DanaWilliamsCo.ComGet her book, The Internal Revolution: https://a.co/d/0iv4u3RnDominate Your Day Podcast: https://www.danawilliamsco.com/dominate-your-day-podcastReferenced in this Episode:The Numerology of Endings and Renewal | Dina Berrin: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1872382/episodes/18106144________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with Wendy:LinkedinInstagram: @wendy.harropFacebook: Phineas Wright HouseWebsite: Phineas Wright House PWH Farm StaysPWH Curated Experience and TravelInterested in being a guest on the show? Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.comPodcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Most people spend their whole lives trying to fix what they're bad at. In this episode, Daron sits down with his wife Julie, a newly certified StrengthsFinder coach, to talk about what happens when you stop chasing well-rounded and start living from how God actually wired you. After 25 years of marriage, they finally have language for why they drove each other crazy. And that language is changing everything. Ready to discover who God created you to be? Book a free 30-minute discovery call at RogueCollectiveCoaching.com.  KEY TAKEAWAYS: ⚡️ Your lowest strengths are not your failures. They are revealing something powerful about how God designed you, and understanding them can completely reframe your conflicts at home and at work. ⚡️ In marriage, opposites do not just attract. They complete. When you stop trying to make your spouse operate like you and start understanding their God-given wiring, grace becomes possible in a whole new way. ⚡️ You only get one shot at your two most important roles. You are your spouse's first spouse and your children's parent. Discovering who God made you to be in those roles is not optional. It's urgent. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Why Julie Is Actually Excited to Be on the Podcast  1:54 The Confession: Even the Purpose Guy Didn't Know His Wife's Strengths  4:15 Why Julie Decided to Become a Certified StrengthsFinder Coach  8:28 The Four Domains of Strength and Why Opposites Attract  12:12 First Impressions and What Opposites Actually Do to Each Other  15:47 Advice for Anyone in Their First Decade of Marriage or Career  22:55 The Business Case for Knowing Your Team's Strengths  24:20 Rogue Collective Coaching Call to Action  25:04 The Corner Turn: Holding Two Perspectives at Once  36:06 Reject the Myth of Being Well-Rounded  39:19 What Julie Wants to Do With Her Certification   46:20 You Only Get One Shot at Your Two Most Important Roles CONNECT WITH DARON: Website: https://daronearlewine.com  Rogue Collective Coaching: https://roguecollectivecoaching.com  Blackbird Mission: https://blackbirdmission.com  Email: daron@daronearlewine.com Want to join Julie's upcoming women's strengths coaching groups? Email daron@daronearlewine.com with "Julie" in the subject line to be added to the list. Daron works with faith-driven entrepreneurs, leaders, and teams to uncover purpose, leverage strengths, and build what they were born to build. If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. #StrengthsFinder #PurposeDriven #FaithAndBusiness #MarriageAdvice #ChristianEntrepreneur #KnowYourStrengths #RogueCollectiveCoaching #DaronEarlewine #BlackbirdMission #CreatedOnPurpose

This is a story from early in my career that completely changed how I think about strengths, work ethic, and what it means to be a great teammate.I'm not against strengths-based leadership. I've taken StrengthsFinder multiple times, sat through the trainings, and I believe there's real value in understanding how you're wired.But I also saw it used in a way that stuck with me for years…A teammate would regularly say, “That's not in my strengths,” and pass work off to others. And while it sounded thoughtful and self-aware on the surface, it slowly created a culture where responsibility got shifted instead of owned.That experience gave me a bit of a bad taste toward personality tests for a long time.Here's what I've come to believe since then:There's a difference between knowing your strengths… and using them as a shield.Especially early in your career, there's real value in saying yes, figuring things out, and becoming someone people can rely on no matter the task.Later on, sure… you can specialize, delegate, and focus your time where you're most effective.But in the beginning?You build your reputation by doing the work.Curious your take:Have you ever worked with someone who leaned too hard on “that's not my strength”?Or have you seen strengths used really well on a team?Drop your thoughts in the comments.#Leadership #CareerGrowth #WorkplaceCulture #StrengthsFinder #WorkEthic #ServantLeadership

In this episode of the Tim Ahlman Podcast, Tim sits down with Jordan Boessling to unpack the power—and potential danger—of leadership assessments like StrengthsFinder, Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, and Working Genius.They explore how tools designed to help leaders grow can sometimes lead to overthinking, comparison, and misplaced identity. But when used properly, these assessments can unlock deeper self-awareness, stronger teams, and more effective ministry.This conversation dives into emotional intelligence, adaptive leadership, and the tension between knowing yourself and finding your identity in Christ. If you've ever taken a personality test—or questioned whether you should—this episode will challenge and sharpen your perspective.Ultimately, it's not just about knowing yourself… it's about knowing who you are in Jesus.Support the showWatch Us On Youtube! 

What if the most important thing you learned about yourself last year is already incomplete? In this episode, Rodney Cox unpacks why Leading From Your Strengths® is not a one-and-done assessment — it's an iterative tool designed to grow with you. Learn how LFYS and StrengthsFinder complement each other, why we recommend retaking the assessment every year or six months after a significant role change, and what to do with your results when you do. Rodney also introduces two free resources — the Strengths Movement Guide and the brand-new One-on-One Guide — that help you take your assessment results off the page and into your leadership every single day. Your strengths are always moving. This episode will help you pay attention.Read the Full Article and Download the Free Guides HereHost: Rodney CoxEmail us at information@ministryinsights.comTweet us at @Insights_IntlFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on FacebookThe podcast is a production of Ministry Insights. Visit us at ministryinsights.com.© 2023 Ministry Insights International, Inc. All rights reserved.

In this episode of Culture Talents, Florence Hardy welcomes Alicia Santamaria, a seasoned coach, trainer and facilitator based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founder of Adelante Coaching & Consulting, now celebrating its 15th anniversary.With a background rooted in community conflict resolution and a deep expertise in strengths-based approaches, Alicia shares how discovering her own CliftonStrengths profile transformed her relationship with the very qualities she had been told to tone down.Her Top 5? Communication, Individualization, Woo, Learner, and Input."My entire life, I've been told I talk too much and I'm too social. And it was a complete shift, the assessment. Rather than thinking there was something wrong with me, all of a sudden this gave me permission to actually explore what I bring to the table."From creating team agreements that shape culture before tensions arise, to building internal capacity so the work continues long after the consultant has left, Alicia brings a grounded, human approach to team dynamics.Florence and Alicia also reflect on their own collaboration across continents, and what it looks like when complementary strengths come together.How do you help teams move from unspoken tensions to real conversations?What does it take to build lasting ownership and capacity within a team?And what happens when you stop trying to fix people and start understanding what they naturally bring?Connect with Alicia on LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciasantamaria/ and here https://www.adelantecc.comCulture Talents is a podcast produced by Le Labo des Talents.Hosted by Florence HardyProduced by César Defot I NatifFlorence Hardy and the coaches at Le Labo des Talents are certified by Gallup. However, we would like to point out that Le Labo des Talents is not affiliated with nor represents Gallup.The ideas we share here are not officially controlled, approved or endorsed by Gallup Inc. Gallup®, CliftonStrengths® and the 34 CliftonStrengths® theme names are the property of Gallup, Inc.For more information, visit www.gallup.com.Want to find out more? At the Lab we're always happy to chat, so let us know on LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/company/lelabodestalents/ or www.labodestalents.fr/enHébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

“Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Julia Carreon’s Fight Against Corporate Gaslighting” In this episode, Frazer Rice sits down with Julia Carreon to explore her recent high-profile litigation against a major financial institution and her powerful insights on women in leadership, corporate culture, and overcoming systemic barriers. YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/e05k7SVQ2xI We discuss: Julia's experience with workplace gaslighting and her litigation journey with Wells Fargo The importance of transparency, accountability, and protecting yourself in corporate environments How societal and corporate cultures disadvantage women, especially around motherhood and leadership The themes and motivations behind Julia's book, Walking on Broken Glass Practical strategies women can use to build political capital and safeguard their careers The significance of external networks and understanding your personal strengths The evolving landscape of equity, ownership, and governance in corporations How to proactively prepare for and respond to systemic workplace challenges SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/episode/5c546gs6Qctx4bGOvalgXj?si=1dDyJxnwSyu4tnhXxpzVxg Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Julia's litigation and book overview 02:03 – Gaslighting in corporate culture and early experiences 04:14 – Dealing with systemic backstage politics and fighting for justice 05:10 – Motivations for writing Walking on Broken Glass 08:08 – Diagnosing workplace culture and gender dynamics 09:33 – The weaponized HR department and accountability 11:38 – Protecting yourself: cultural awareness and bias 13:12 – Demographics, gender disparities, and moving forward 15:12 – Institutional misogyny and societal shifts 16:05 – Motherhood, work-life balance, and corporate support 18:28 – Questions of corporate culture change post-COVID 22:21 – The fear factor and change in workplace loyalty 27:12 – Tactical career strategies and building political capital 28:15 – Always Be Executing (ABE) and tracking success 30:53 – The ownership mentality and equity's role in career resilience 34:45 – Building internal and external networks for support 36:49 – Understanding personal aptitudes through testing and reflection 40:12 – Leveraging political capital and seizing opportunities 43:31 – How to follow Julia and stay updated on her journey Transcript Frazer Rice (00:01.004)Welcome aboard, Julia. Julia (00:03.32)Thanks for having me. Frazer Rice (00:04.652)Well, as I said in the opening, the concept of gaslighting in the boardroom is something that certainly isn’t new, but it doesn’t make it any more comfortable for the people who deal with it on a day-to-day basis or as part of their career. And you’re in the midst of litigation right now with a major financial services company. Maybe talk a little bit about what’s going on there. Julia (00:24.801)Yeah, so I am in a high profile lawsuit with my former employer. I would say this is not a path that anyone chooses on purpose. In my particular case, Frazer, I spent 20 years at Wells Fargo, 15 of which were pretty spectacular. I have come to realize almost maybe fairy tale like in terms of my experience. I want to talk about some of the things later on that made it a fairy tale. So yeah, I wouldn’t have chosen this. I did not see the culture at my former employer coming for me. I was blindsided by it and it got ugly quickly. One of the things that I think I am doing here. Or at least trying to do is not be shy about it. Not hide from it. Try to show women a different way for how to deal with these situations. Because I have very strong feelings about the fact. With the rollback of DEI and the current administration’s point of view on women, that we’re going backwards. If women don’t start fighting for ourselves in a more public way and without fear, then I don’t know where we’re going to be in the next five to 10 years. I am soldiering on and it’s not easy to your point. But it is what it is and it’s a fight that I believe is worthy. Frazer Rice (02:03.608)So it’s a daunting task taking on a big bank. Big financial services firm, whether it’s in this situation or frankly any. It’s just these well-resourced big behemoths. What has been the experience been like so far? As far as gathering information? Of getting the walls built that you need to in order to live your life while you go through this conflict with this bank? Julia (02:29.822)It’s hat that is the million dollar question. Right? I will say that in my case i got really fortunate and came across a quote. It’s going to sound really strange. But i came across a quote that said fear is fake and danger is real but fear is fake. I believe that the patriarchy wants women to be afraid. So it tells us these bad things are going to happen if you take on a big firm like this. It is grueling. The days are long sometimes. But once I internalize the reality that it is all fake in terms of all of the bad things that you think could happen really can’t happen. Worst case scenario, there’s nothing Like I’m not going to die. They’re not going to, you know, take away my family. Like all of these things, right? We tell ourselves that it could get really nasty. And in my case, I have to stay really grounded in the fact that what I’m doing is worthy. We tried my lawyer and I tried for 14 months to come to a different answer. And so in a way, not just telling myself fear is fake. But in another way, I kind of feel like it’s my destiny. Because, I just want to say this real quick, I had 20 years at a place that was not toxic. And so I know what good looks like, and this is not good. So in that way, I really feel like it’s my destiny. And so that’s what you do, and you have to have a good support network. I have a great husband, so that really helps. Frazer Rice (04:14.21)The, as I’ve told people, sometimes doing the right thing or going after something that upholds justice. It can be expensive and hard. I give you kudos for standing up. Not only for yourself, but others who are going through a difficult situation. Where you’ve had a significant wrong done to you. You’ve written a book about this experience as well. We can take some time to think, to talk about what the book tries to do. First of all, writing one in tandem with the process here, I think is a bit unusual. Some people do it after the fact. To go through a catharsis after going through a difficult process. Talk about first the why of the book.thhen we’ll talk a little bit about what you talk about in it. Julia (05:17.241)The book is called Walking on Broken Glass: Navigating the Aftermath of the Glass Ceiling.” It was co-written with a fabulous woman named Shannon Nutter. I hope people follow on LinkedIn. The book is not squarely about what happened to me the book came together. With Shannon and I meeting on LinkedIn. Then discovering that we had a lot of the same shared experiences as we are Gen X. in hindsight. Our generation has had the opportunity to have the most benefit of the Gloria Steinem Women’s Movement. Think about the fact that we got the advantage of the birth control and all of the DEI efforts that have been in the last 15, 20 years. And we really felt like there was still a long way to go. Then all of that is starting to go backwards. So last year when we met or the year before, we’re like, my God, the idea that we got the best of the best is shocking to us. And so what are we going to do about it? We really wanted the book to speak to women of all ages in their career. But it was written from a lens of two then 53 year old women who had seen a lot. We wanted to give the book as a love letter or a gift to our 35 year old self. To say, this is what we should have or wish we had known 20 years ago. Because we would have done things differently if we had really faced kind of what the challenges were that women are facing at work. In a real way right not in a way that sugarcoats it or pretends to throw it under the rug. And or always makes it the woman’s fault like the woman always has to be changing and evolving in order to adapt to the systems and i you know it’s exhausting right so the book was written for that reason and it does tap into a lot of the things that we both experienced. Julia (07:35.17)But it isn’t a kind of a personal journal of what happened to me with my former employer. Frazer Rice (07:39.82)Right, one of the things that I found useful about the book is you divided it into three sections. I think it brings us sort of clarity into what you’re trying to achieve here. The first one is just diagnosing the situation that you’re in. Maybe talk a little bit about that. Part one the understanding of your surroundings. What’s happening around you. The conditions that women are facing as they embark on these big situations in the workplace. Julia (08:08.982)Yeah. So the first part of the book does give a primer on kind of the history of feminism and how did we get here and what are some of the big open questions that are still left to answer. We also want to set the stage that makes it very clear that women are accountable for our actions in the workplace. Like this is not in any way a book that seeks to make someone who’s failing feel good about the fact that they’re failing, right? Shannon and I both reached really high levels of corporate success at major global firm. There is a lot of work to do. So we really try to dimension how, what are some effective ways for you to approach that work? What are some of the pitfalls and how are some of the ways that you can handle that? In a way that’s kind of clear-eyed, but never about putting the blame or the onus on the company. And if you don’t mind, I want to say something about that because it relates to my lawsuit. One of the things that I’ve heard criticisms about is that people on social media often I saw when I kind of scanned the landscape of it recently are, this woman is naive. She thinks. HR is her friend because one of the things that I have sued my former employer for is a weaponized HR department and I want to get very clear. mean, Frazer, you don’t manage hundreds of people in 13 states like I did for a very long time successfully innovating, having great client experience team scores and having great employee team scores, right? If you believe HR is your friend. So that’s not what i’m trying to say what i’m trying to say in my lawsuit is. HR shouldn’t be picking off people for political reasons either. We are saying all the way along there is shared accountability between the employer and the employee. That’s really important. I think that you know one of the backlash is going too far field here. Julia (10:27.401)We went so far politically correct on some things that some employees do show up to work and think that they just need things handed to them. And I do think that that was part of the backlash, right? So I just am always striving for balance. I think we should all be always striving for balance. Frazer Rice (10:45.13)One of the concepts too, I think in the book that I sort of grabbed onto and enjoyed was the idea of taking steps to protect yourself. You’re dealing with a lot of different asymmetries when you work for a big company. You’re dealing with information asymmetry, you’re dealing with political asymmetry, you’re dealing with resource asymmetry. Sometimes you’re even dealing with just… Accountability asymmetry in terms of, you some people get free passes at other times people are judged on things or unfairly judged on different criteria that just don’t make a lot of sense. If we step back for a second and for people who are trying to understand, I’ll put it in quotes, how the world works and how to how to be aware of one’s and to protect yourself, what would be the first couple of things that you would tell people to think about on that back? Julia (11:38.471)The number one thing is I would be very aware of the kind of culture that you’re operating in. And it’s very easy to take for granted what a culture really is, what your own personal bias and history is, and then how is it that you are fitting. into that culture with your own shared history. So I love to be candid, right? And provocative about my own situation. If I could do something different, I would be very aware of what my biases were going into Citi with 20 years of being at a place where It was a really fair game, but probably because I had a lot of political capital and I grew up there. So I understood it. But I went into that place thinking that I was a fancy managing director, that obviously I was hired to be a change maker. I can do a lot of great things. And I was, you know, doing my thing, not realizing that I was swimming in a different lake and that lake was filled. with a lot of different kinds of wildlife that I was unprepared for. So, I mean, that’s really important. Frazer Rice (13:12.398)As we talk a little bit about some sort of bullet questions as far as how your experience has gone, the demographics of the workplace are different and changing. On one hand, college graduates are now majority women or higher in just about every college situation. Yet institutions like the CFP, the women make up… Believe the number is somewhere in the 24 % range. So you have this weird dichotomy of more women entering the workplace, but not in the numbers necessarily that would indicate that they are in places to make as much change as they would like. They are still in the vast minority in terms of boards of directors and executive positions at almost every Fortune 500 company that I can think of. As we chart a path forward where, let’s call it merit. Julia (13:58.813)Mm-hmm. Frazer Rice (14:04.494)presides over sort of misogyny and I guess I would call it sort of political gamesmanship. How do you think about that in terms of advice for people entering the workforce? Julia (14:16.461)Yeah, look, so nobody gets to say that women aren’t in the pipeline, right? I mean, that just, doesn’t hold up, especially at the more junior levels, right, of entering the workforce after college. What starts to happen is that it starts to go downhill as you get higher and higher up into hierarchy. And I believe that there is a mismatch between women who want to work and do the right thing. And we’re going to talk about this. Then what does it mean to also then become a mother and give birth and have to manage all of that? And then coming up against institutional misogyny. Obviously my perspective in the last 18 months has changed about the degree to which institutional misogyny exists. Because I had a fairy tale experience before I was able to be willfully blind about the realities. so a really direct way of answering your question is that our book is seeking to hit women in the face with the realities of this because I don’t think we’re gonna change it overnight, right? And it is so entrenched, it’s getting worse and it will get worse. Before it gets better, but I do believe that it will get better eventually because the old system that’s, know, aging out, baby boomers are aging out. Like I think that there’s going to be cracks in that. And then there would be a tsunami of change. But right now the old guard is hanging on and, we are going backwards. And so we just have to be realistic about what it requires to go forward. And we talk about what that is. Frazer Rice (16:05.58)One of the things, right, and so let’s touch back on the motherhood issue, is, that is biology. And so women who go that route and have kids. Which is frankly one of the big precepts in society. Unfortunately. n some ways takes you out of the normal trajectory of a corporate path, just from a time perspective. Certainly, the balance of work that happens at the household level. Where that ends up alling usually, creates a stress that is not well understood or received at the corporate level. What are your thoughts on that front? As far as charting a path that recognizes that reality and at the same time doesn’t put upon going the other direction necessarily in terms of favoring one outcome or the other. Julia (17:02.019)I know a lot of women who did not have children because they felt like that it would, it would harm their career. And, um, certainly it’s a personal issue and there’s no judgment from me. I don’t think I would have had children if I hadn’t met my husband. He was willing to do 50 % of the workload and he has, and, always has probably does maybe more than 50. It is a very deeply personal issue. What I have strong feelings about the fact that companies who lean in to, don’t expect the woman to lean in, but the company leans in to supporting pregnant women, have higher loyalty scores. They have better team member satisfaction. They get a lot from those women that they have supported. This is a crazy story, Frazer. I was pregnant and or just coming back from maternity leave all three times I got major promotions at Wells. I mean, think about that. And I now, because I lived my life kind of in a vacuum for a long time, I didn’t realize that this wasn’t happening to other people, right? So look at me now. I am 25 years from when I got hired, still saying that Wells is a great company. because of my own personal experience. And they got a lot out of me, but I gave a lot back. So to me, supporting women who are pregnant doesn’t have to be a zero sum game. Yet somehow that is the narrative. And I would love to ask you why that is. Like, I mean, what has happened to corporate culture that this is such a pervasive issue when If you were to scan a lot of my Gen X friends, we did not have the same experience. Frazer Rice (19:04.147)I mean, from my perspective, I don’t know. I think that I blame some of this a little bit on the COVID blip in the sense that managers of all types just have no idea where to go as far as how to treat people fairly, either from a work from home experience or how that reconciles with… women in particular who are having careers and families in addition to what’s going on with other folks like the men in the world. My short answer is I don’t know. The longer answer is that I think between the shorter news cycle, social media, work from home, there are a lot of different change agents out there that have taken the focus off of. maybe the issues that worth talking about right now. And as a managerial class, especially as millennials are taking up the mantle on that front, they’re either forgetting about this particular issue and understanding the importance that it has, or they are just so overwhelmed by change at this point and self-preservation that it’s just an area where they’re triaging the different issues that they can deal with. Julia (20:22.492)Do you do you at all think that it is a problem of losing common sense and like letting rigid ideology take over from common sense. I certainly was benefited from working from home for most of my career, right? So it’s fascinating. Frazer Rice (20:46.061)Common sense isn’t common. And depending on the institution that you’re dealing with, work from home is either an excellent tool or a cover to hide under if you’re a mediocre performer. If you’re a manager out of sight, out of mind is a difficult place to be. I think that we’re I think everyone is reconciling to the relative absence of work and sort of acclimating to Zoom phone calls and things like that. And that gets you then away from taking care of the real issues, which is to make sure that the company’s doing right, the employees are doing right by the company, and at the same time that people are being treated fairly, because I think when people are so disparate, it just becomes a real management challenge. What we’re talking about as far as making sure that women are treated fairly in the workplace, Combine that with, I would say, message confusion that occurs in social media, where some loud voices may not be the right voices to be taking up this mantle, versus some of the quieter, stable people who are really the exemplars that we’d really like to point to. Sometimes that gets mixed. And I think the brew, if you stir it together, I think is created. Maybe if we think that there was progress since the 70s on through the 80s, 90s, 2000s for fairness and women progressing within the corporate ladder nicely, I think this the COVID blip has been a bit of a toe stub on that front. That’s an opinion, extremely uninformed, but more of an observation. Julia (22:35.713)No, no, but well, listen, I just I love it because I do want to unpack it just a little bit. It’s what’s fascinating to me is that I negotiated 15 years before covid to work remote and then my boss knowing that I had to be on the road three to four weeks a month regardless was like, I’d rather you be happy where you live because you’re to be on the road regardless. So I got to work from home and then during COVID when they tried to bring everybody back, they’re like, well, you can’t be the only exception. And I’m like, okay, I have been an exception for 15 years. So that’s where I go back to, know, where is this right balance? did, I mean, COVID is as good a reason as any that it’s things are upside down. I mean, really it’s a great theory. Frazer Rice (23:22.671)Well, it also bespeaks different corporations have different cultures and certainly some people are worried about other things than others. Muriel Siebert, who I think is an amazing example of someone who took a look at Wall Street and said, look, I refuse to be held back by anything here. She started her own company and to call it a company is to not give it the respect it’s due. She’s a major absolute force in Wall Street and one of the real legends. To me, entrepreneurism is one way through this. to create the company that you want to work in is, in some ways, to me, one of the solutions for people who are having difficulty in a corporate environment that they’re in right now. Whether they’re able to be the change agent within, which is often hard at a big, you know, bulky company that turns with the agility of a battleship as opposed to being nimble in doing things or going out and starting on their own, which involves its own risks. That to me is one of the solutions. But again, not without risk, not easy by any stretch. Where did that fit into your mindset as you were thinking about this? Julia (24:37.16)Well, so, so she is an icon, not just because of what she was able to accomplish, but she also did it, I think, without a college degree. And she did it. And this is important. She did it fearlessly. And what I would love to go back in time and have a conversation with her about where did she tap into that fearlessness? And you will start to see. Frazer Rice (24:48.665)Mm-hmm. Julia (25:06.77)On my own social media, am trying to tap into that whole mindset of women need to lose fear. I’ve already talked about it, but here’s what’s important to know, right? By 2030 in the US alone, women will control $34 trillion of investable assets. I believe that that is when you start seeing the game change. Look at how Mackenzie Scott is giving without glory. I posted that in a remark that’s gone semi-viral on LinkedIn. Like she is giving without glory. She wants to give, she wants to be anonymous almost about it, and she’s giving without handcuffs. And what is she giving to? She’s giving to communities, she’s giving to schools, she’s giving to healthcare. I mean, it gives me goosebumps every single time. And so I feel like women When we start to control more, we’ll start giving in, Alice Walton is the same way, giving in a different way to change society in a more meaningful way at scale. And Muriel was a pioneer in that regard. And she is someone I think we need the next generation to know about. because she was so fearless and it’s an inspiration. But you and i both know that all kinds of things that women have accomplished are never spoken about in the same way that they are about man and about men. I do think that that’s one of the great things about some of we can go into social media some of the social media change that we see happening with alpha female and all of these great accounts that are just starting to say, know what ladies, we don’t have to buy into the patriarchy. We can do it our own way. And so I think we will finally see change, but I wanna be very clear, Frazer, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Frazer Rice (27:12.195)Got it. So for people who are in a corporate structure, corporate environment, aren’t ready to make the leap to starting their own business, which is obviously a difficult decision, but when you’re in there, what are the things tactically that one can do to prepare, not only prepare themselves, but protect themselves against these forces that are out there? One of the thoughts I had is making sure that in the job description that you’re able to point to numerical or formulaic successes so that if a narrative is being built against you, you can point to dollars created or jobs saved or metrics that in the boardroom. Not only just qualitative successes, but also quantitative ones that makes it difficult for people to ignore you from a pure dollar perspective. Things like that, what pops up in your mind? That you would tell people to think about in terms of art directing their career. Julia (28:15.023)Yeah, well, the number one thing that I always say, and I’m kind of, it’s kind of a legend for it. So it’s ABE and it stands for Always Be Executing. And when I look back and see how successful I was in a corporate setting, of course, in my case, it was that I had a great boss and a great mentor and sponsor in him. But actually, I was always focused on executing and doing it in a way that is collaborative so that you don’t have the knives coming for you from every direction. think a lot of people who the more successful that you get in your career, you think, I’m fabulous because I’m fabulous. No. You need a mindset of I’m fabulous because I am creating a team around me, no matter who I am, even if I’m not the boss, to protect each other and help each other and lift each other up. if you are always executing and you hit on it, right, as a woman, you should always be keeping track of your metrics in a way that is tangible and defensible. But you also should never take for granted the fact that no matter how senior you are, you need to be getting something done. And I do think that it is a big mistake for people to get high on their own supply and forget that. And then, and then the sharks will come for you. So always do something. And this is just a final thing, cause I have lots of people that I mentor. They’re like, just name one thing. I’m going to give you one thing. Send meeting notes. If you go to a meeting, and everybody’s on a call, 15 people are on a call. If you’re the one who sends meeting notes and this is a hot button, right? For women, they’re like, well, I’m not the secretary. I don’t wanna take me. You know what? Put your ego, park it in a parking lot and send meeting notes. You would be shocked how much goodwill and how effective you’re perceived when those notes, like say a project is going downhill and somebody goes, but. Julia (30:30.157)Such and so committed to this and you’re like, those meeting notes were written by Julia Carrion. Nobody has to do that. But corporations get unwieldy. lot of churn happens. A lot of stuff doesn’t get done in a day. If you can demonstrate that you are someone who is acting in good faith and doing small things to keep the needle moving, somebody in senior management is going to notice that, I promise. Frazer Rice (30:53.763)The other thing I sort of, and this doesn’t just go for women, this is for people generally, is the ownership mentality and the move toward equity, and by equity I mean stock equity, where the mindset to me shifts when you move from sort of salary and bonus to equity in the firm. And that subtle shift suddenly puts you in a different position in terms of sitting at the same table as someone who is, let’s call it quote unquote, making the decisions. When you’re there and your ownership of the firm, however small it is, is rendered unimportant. First of all, that tells you to go. Second of all, I just feel like the people who exist on that plane bring up different things and then are thought of differently. Does that track with your experience? Julia (31:48.819)It does, but I think that this goes to kind of how is the corporate world changing and then how does that impact employees? So, and where I’m going with this is when I was at Wells, my compensation was a third, a third, a third. So it was a third cash, a third cash bonus and a third in stock. Do you want to know what’s going on? And I don’t know if you know what’s happened on Wall Street. Every single major bank is moving to you only get a quarter in equity and the rest of it is cash. So I think that the onus to here is on corporations to be thinking about how they’re treating employees. And to your point, what, what does that mean when you show up and how vested are you in the option? Just real quick, I want to give a shout out to Maureen Clough. I don’t know if you follow her, she just yesterday did an amazing six minute post on why companies are losing loyalty from employees. so like, again, this goes back to is everybody backsliding right now because these corporations have to realize that in order to keep good talent, you want them to have a stake in the game, but that’s winnowing, I think. Frazer Rice (33:11.819)I know. I agree. Frankly you know to me at the larger institutions that aren’t willing to sort of play ball as far as involving people in the ownership that’s a signal and when it’s a signal then you know if you’re good at your job and you bring things to bear you know there are other there are other places out there. I think those places that value you want you around and they want you to be able to participate and how the broader governance of the company works. It’s a lot like how Goldman Sachs was back when it was in the partnership days. Everyone who was a partner there understood how everything else was working and ultimately that meant that, I don’t know, I feel like Goldman still does well now, but it’s a different climate, different firm where you’re completely involved in everything else and therefore the information is out there and… it’s something that you’re not blindsided as much by what’s happening in other divisions within your firm. Julia (34:15.472)Yeah, totally agree. Frazer Rice (34:16.911)One other thought that as we were sort of squiring through this was the idea that it’s important to have information sources or networks both within your company that are outside of your reporting line, but also information networks and support outside your company. I call it sort of the kitchen cabinet of people who are similarly situated or in different spots so that you have context into which to sort of find out what your what you’re up against both inside the company and outside of it. Is that something that makes sense to you or is it something that was lacking in your current situation? How did you think about that? Julia (34:57.906)Hmm. I love that because in 2017, I took stock of the fact that I had become too comfortable in my lane and I was seeing that my influence at Wells was waning for whatever reason. And so I started blogging on LinkedIn in 2017. Because of a conversation with a Harvard sociologist that I write a lot about. Fscinating guy who predicted the current turmoil 10 years, almost 10 years ago. And so I started networking outside and I could not agree with you more that you need to be building your networks, not just inside. That goes without saying, right? Like I had a great career partly because I was a boss at gaining political capital at Wells all the time, right? Giving goodwill and getting it back but outside is critical. during our book, what we found out is, that women are more likely to put that aside. Because we feel like we’ve got too many other things going on, work, know, kids, all of the pressures, trying not to, you know, have a nervous breakdown on any given day, trying to stay fit, dealing with menopause. Which of course is a whole other thing that is a whole other bag of tricks. And so we don’t do it as much and it hurts us. So I absolutely think being deliberate about an external network is essential. When women ask me how to do that, I say to commit to a certain number of hours, half an hour to two hour, whatever you can give a week to doing it deliberately. I wish I had done that earlier in my career for sure. So it’s great advice. Frazer Rice (36:49.865)Along that line, I’m a big believer in being aware of your surroundings. In a sense aware of yourself and what your skills. Things that you’re annoyed are at are and what you’re good at and what you’re not good at. Did you take any tests or anything to understand what your aptitudes were or what you were interested in or more importantly not interested in or how you interact with other people personality wise and Is that something that resonates with you? sort of am a big sports fan. Dan Quinn, who’s the Washington commander coach. He got fired from the Falcons. He did a real deep soul searching and went in and got tested on a whole bunch of different things and where he came up short, where he was really good. And that allowed him to get hired again and to have at least some initial success with the team and hopefully going forward from my rooting perspective. But where does that fit into your analysis for people? Julia (37:50.351)Did somebody set that question up? That’s what I want to know. I am a huge believer in strength finders. Some people take discs, some do Myers-Briggs. The reason I asked if it was a setup is because strength finders saved my life. I was deemed top talent when I was like 34 years old at Wells and they gave me a career coach who by the way was Sarah Grady is her name. and she was Dick Kvasevich’s legend on Wall Street. She was his leadership coach and she gave me strength finders and I very quickly was very clear my top five strengths and then my bottom five strengths are not a surprise. Like I am zero. I’m like negative zero at woo. I was like, it won’t even shock you for a minute. Yes i do think that those kinds of valuations are critical and in fact i’m gonna talk to my twenty year old son about taking one i think you’ll end up taking disk but. One thousand percent if you if you do not know what you’re good at and why then try to find out because it can save your life i mean the awareness and the learnings that i got about myself. From taking one test have stayed with me for 25 years. And I’m gonna be really blunt here. I forgot those lessons when I stepped into a new culture and it was painful. So I think you have to also be disciplined about… Take it again, remind yourself, reread whatever book helps you stay grounded in who you are and how you’re showing up. And get some friends to give you feedback. Frazer Rice (39:44.111)Well, mean, people get better or change or worse at certain things. And so you’re not the same person you were 20 years ago. And, you know, it merits revisiting every once in a while. As we wind down here, unfortunately, we probably could go on for about three hours, which I wish we could do. But one of the things that I think is interesting, too, you talked about political capital and building it up, is that I think one piece of advice that I tend to give to people who are starting out and might be useful in the situation that we’re describing here is that when you have political capital, you’ve got to be willing to spend it occasionally. Careers, in my experience, take quantum leaps in that you’ll be going around for a while and then something good will happen and then you’ve got to kind of take advantage of the advantage while you have the advantage of having the advantage and moving up and then reestablishing the plane. And it’s a little bit like a ratchet where when the wrench turns, it doesn’t turn backward. You can kind of continue to elevate on that point. Is that something that you saw where, you know, as you were making the moves up the ladder that didn’t happen at the last situation that maybe might’ve been something that could’ve turned out differently? Julia (41:01.791)Yes, and I think that being more aware of my surroundings would have helped. I don’t think it would have changed the outcome in the other example. But the political capital that I was able to gain is that I got promoted every single time Wells did a major merger when people were panicking about their jobs. Frazer Rice (41:08.623)Mm-hmm. Julia (41:31.061)And one of the things that I did that you and I could probably discuss for two days is I gave up control of trying to manage the outcome. In other words, I went to senior management with two major mergers and I said, you know what? I don’t care what I do for the time that the companies are trying to come together. You give me something hard to do and ugly and I will get it done the right way. And then you decide whether I get rewarded or not. And when I crushed both of those tasks, I got major promotions. So I think it, I think a lot of people think, I’m going, I had a, had an employee who told me I should just get promoted because I’m sitting here and I’ve been sitting here for two years. mean, it really, life just really doesn’t work that way. In my experience, you got to work your ass off for it. And, and you have to put your ego aside and you have to hope that the universe is gonna pay you back. And I believe that because the universe always has. I believe that even now with my current situation, like everything that has brought me here has made me a spokesperson for like a better way because of what happened to me, right? I had 20 years of goodness and then I had something really hard happen. And I’m trying to make lemonade out of a very difficult situation because it is the only way, the only way out is through. So I just have to keep going through and I love the idea of yes, you’ve got to spend your political capital. can’t, know, George Bush said that you can’t just collect it. What are you collecting it for? If you’re not going to spend it. Frazer Rice (43:17.817)Exactly. Okay, we have to disembark here, unfortunately. How should people keep track of your situation? How do they find the book? And how do people get in touch? Julia (43:31.846)Yep. I have, um, I’m on LinkedIn. I have a website, juliacarrion.com. If you are looking for, I’m doing some consulting on a digital transformation always and org design or whatever. So you can find me there. And then, um, you know, today’s a big day. We are filing today or tomorrow, a response to my lawsuit. So it would probably make the news. Thank you to you for being a great ally to women and having me on. The book is walking on broken glass.com. It’s such a great name. So you can order the book on the website from any of your favorite book resellers. Frazer Rice (44:14.639)Super, well good luck with the legal proceedings. All of your information will have that in the show notes so people can find it easily. I think you’re coming off of a difficult situation. I think you’re gonna turn it into something far more transformative. Even you’re envisioning it right now. So I’m hoping for the best here. Resources & Links: Walking on Broken Glass: Navigating the Aftermath of the Glass Ceiling StrengthsFinder Assessment Julia Carrion on LinkedIn Julia Carrion's Website Connect with Julia: LinkedIn Website Stay tuned for updates on her legal case and ongoing advocacy efforts. Don't miss her insights into transforming adversity into empowerment and systemic change. https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/ Keywords: Gaslighting, Corporate Culture, Women in Leadership, Workplace Equity, Julia Carreon, Wells Fargo, Citi, Legal Battle, Glass Ceiling, Political Capital, StrengthsFinder, Work-Life Balance, Systemic Change, Weaponized HR

Ever feel like you're juggling more than just patients and profit, like your ambition, family, and identity are all competing for your attention? In this episode of Just DeW It, Anne Duffy sits down with Dr. Sara Mahmood, a dynamic Dallas–Fort Worth CEO and founder known for scaling multiple businesses with confidence and clarity. Together, they pull back the curtain on the DeW community's mastermind approach, where intimate, leader-guided groups help women solve real problems, celebrate achievements, and grow together. Sara shares her journey from hearing about Dental Entrepreneur Woman to experiencing firsthand the transformative value of masterminds and why she chose to get involved without hesitation. The heart of their conversation centers on owning your strengths without apology. Anne and Sara dive deep into the insights from StrengthsFinder, where Sara reveals her initial struggle with embracing strengths like competition, significance, and achievement within a nurturing women's circle. Anne reframes competition in a positive light: “the balcony versus basement” approach, highlighting how healthy self-challenge can catalyze personal and professional growth. Sara gets candid about what she had to unlearn as a leader: letting go of the need to do everything herself and hiring ahead of demand, even when it meant bold investments. The episode closes with a vulnerable discussion on motherhood, ambition, and aligning visions with partners (plus a peek into Sara's latest ventures and her call for authentic connections within the DeW network.) What You'll Learn in This Episode: The behind-the-scenes power of mastermind groups for women leaders How to use StrengthsFinder to embrace (not apologize for) your competitive edge Reframing competition: healthy rivalry versus unhealthy comparison The art of delegating and why “80% done by someone else is 100% awesome” Scaling businesses by hiring ahead of need and trusting your vision Navigating the tension of motherhood, entrepreneurship, and the myth of “doing enough” The importance of spousal alignment and shared ambition Strategies for building high-performing, strengths-based teams How to create lasting connections within supportive networks like DeW Real-world examples of bold leadership moves in dentistry and beyond Tune in now for honest insights on strength, leadership, and building a legacy with strategies you can put into action today! Learn More About Dr. Sara Mahmood Here! Practice: Brush365: https://brush365dental.com/ Social Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suresmilesuperstar/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarathedentist/ Ready to Join the DeW Movement? Join Other Amazing Women in Dentistry and Grow Together at: https://dew.life/membership/ Mentions & Links: Events: The DeW Life Retreat Dental Nachos Events Chicago Midwinter Tools/Assessments: Gallup StrengthsFinder 2.0 Books: Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell The Four Agreements Programs: Mpower Journey (couples program)

Marie-Noëlle Pillot est People Experience Director. Boris Lemery est Directeur des Activités Réseau. Tous deux font partie du comité de direction de Volvo Car France.Dans cet épisode, ils nous racontent un changement de regard — celui qui consiste à arrêter de regarder ce qui manque pour commencer à voir ce qui est déjà là, et qui n'attend qu'à être activé.Boris l'admet sans détour : il était sceptique. Formaté à traquer les clignotants orange et rouge. Convaincu que la performance passait par l'amélioration des points faibles. Marie-Noëlle, elle, avait une intuition : quelque chose de négatif s'installait dans l'organisation, et elle voulait en changer le prisme.Ce qu'ils ont découvert ensemble — et ce que ça a produit dans leur équipe — c'est ce que vous allez entendre ici.Les talents de Marie-Noëlle : Connectedness, Empathy, Individualization, Input. Les talents de Boris : Restorative, Analytical, Harmony, Relator, Learner.Culture Talents est un podcast proposé par Le Labo des Talents.Animation : Florence HardyRéalisation : César Defoort | Natif.

Dave Rendall has spoken on every inhabited continent for the last 20 years — Microsoft, AT&T, the US Air Force, the Australian government, Fortune 50 companies. He has a doctorate in organizational leadership, he's a former stand-up comedian, and he wrote The Freak Factor, a book that argues the thing everyone calls your biggest weakness is actually the foundation of your biggest strength. Before all of that, he ran nonprofits that helped people with disabilities find employment. He's also an ultramarathon runner and Ironman triathlete who competes in between keynotes.This one was personal. My son was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, and I was diagnosed with Level 1 autism — all around the same time. Dave's video on weaknesses being strengths changed how my wife and I parent our kids. We've been in each other's orbit for six years — he MCs the events I speak at — but we'd never sat down and gone deep like this. We got into why "normal" doesn't actually exist, why your best employees probably have the most anxiety, the survivorship bias problem with reframing disabilities as superpowers, why "Eat That Frog" is terrible advice for entrepreneurs, and why most businesses are accidentally destroying their best people by trying to fix them.If you're a business owner, a parent, or someone who's ever been told something is wrong with you — there's a lot here.What You'll LearnWhy "normal" is a fake target — and what Todd Rose's The End of Average reveals about the myth of the average personThe Paul Orfala paradox: the Kinko's founder says "everyone should have dyslexia" — how to hold that alongside the real struggles of learning differencesWhy the survivorship bias argument against neurodiversity as a superpower is actually backwards — and what self-fulfilling prophecies have to do with itHow anxiety tested off the charts for Dave — and why elevated anxiety is what separates your best employees from your worstThe Dunning-Kruger connection: why the most competent people feel the most inadequate, and why that drives performanceWhy "Eat That Frog" creates a frog-eating job — and how to design a business where you never eat frogsWhat Faster Than Normal by Peter Shankman teaches about reframing ADHD as a speed advantage, not a deficitWhy partnering with people strong where you're weak isn't just nice — it's structurally necessary for neurodiverse entrepreneursThe real reason business owners burn out — and why it has nothing to do with how much work they're doingHow Dave's "affiliation" principle works in practice — the insurance agent story that almost ended in a firing and became a case studyWhy the first thing most schools, therapists, and managers do — focus entirely on weaknesses — is the exact wrong approachWhat the StrengthsFinder philosophy gets right that most management training missesBooks & Resources Referenced

416 The Right Tool For The Right Job   Having the necessary toolset to build others and yourself up is something most of us continue to build and collect our entire lives. How we choose to interact with another, how we teach, learn, and grow with them is how we hone these tools in order to achieve excellence in our chosen life.  In today's episode Sarah Elkins ruminates on one of her former students, and how the lessons and tools she's experienced now have made her a better advisor and teacher, by taking into account everyone's personalized skillset.    Highlights Applying new understanding of the tools you've collected to help others and yourself.  Everyone has different talents, which is why it is so important to learn to work with them as opposed to against them. ADKAR and Strengths Finder working hand in hand to create meaningful change.   Quotes "The thing is my talents are the opposite to the ones I'm describing here so if I want to teach someone or help them move through the ADKAR change framework, I have to meet them where they are, I have to be able to speak their language." "If we can learn to bring people along for the ride with these tools; Strengths Finder and ADKAR, we can move forward into that uncertainty with improved and inspired resilience, persistence, and grit."   Dear Listeners it is now your turn, Are you curious to learn more about this ADKAR Framework and the layering nuance of Strengths Finder for individual and institutional change? Check out Episode 407 featuring Rachel Bohns, and send me your questions and ideas that pop into your head I'd love to hear from you.   And, as always, thank you for listening.  About Sarah "Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision." In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I've realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don't realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they're sharing them with. My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home. The audiobook, Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available! Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana. Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!

Qui oserait chanter un morceau des Beatles devant 150 personnes pour présenter une nouvelle organisation ?Stéphane Fezais l'a fait — et ce n'était pas un “coup”. C'était une manière d'embarquer, de créer de la cohésion, et de donner le ton : avancer ensemble.Formé à la Sorbonne en analyse des politiques économiques et passionné de tech, Stéphane a construit un parcours atypique jusqu'à devenir Directeur des Services et Infrastructures Numériques chez Klee Group.Dans cet épisode, il partage une conviction forte : être DSI, c'est avant tout manager des personnes — avec tout ce que cela implique de relationnel, d'émotionnel et de confiance.Depuis près de 10 ans, il s'appuie sur l'approche CliftonStrengths pour cultiver ses forces, faire grandir ses équipes et renforcer l'esprit collectif.Ses 5 talents dominants : Woo, Communication, Arranger, Positivity, Context.Un épisode rafraîchissant, concret et profondément humain — sur la manière dont capitaliser sur ses forces naturelles peut faire grandir tout un collectif.--- Culture Talents est un podcast proposé par Le Labo des Talents.Animation : Florence HardyRéalisation : César Defoort | Natif.

Eric Robertson is back, live from Graham Sessions, and he's not pulling punches. In this bold and brutally honest conversation, Eric challenges the PT residency model, calls out systemic disconnects in education, and shares a roadmap for fixing it all — with brains, leverage, and a little bit of woo.???? Want to build better clinicians after graduation????? Ready to leverage collective power like dentists and IPAs????? Wondering why education and business still operate in silos?This episode is loaded with smart ideas and spicy solutions for the future of the profession.???? TIMESTAMPS & CHAPTERS00:00 – Intro: Jimmy + Eric back on the mic01:00 – What Graham Sessions gets right about idea sharing02:30 – Collective bargaining, leverage & mega-groups in PT04:40 – Lessons from dentistry and managed care06:10 – Why autonomy isn't the same as isolation08:00 – Education & business are not separate universes09:30 – The big disconnect between DPT programs and real-world readiness12:00 – Can PT education learn from art school?13:30 – Redesigning residencies with clinic-defined values15:00 – Reimagining post-grad training at scale (not just residencies)17:00 – The pending Grad PLUS loan crisis18:20 – Why separating education from business is a mistake20:00 – StrengthsFinder, spreadsheets, and leaning into your superpowers22:00 – PARTING SHOT: “I want to wreck the accreditation model for residency.”

Welcome to the Charismatic Leader Podcast. In this episode, Brett McDermott sits down with Sarah Elkins, workplace storytelling expert, Gallup‑certified StrengthsFinder coach, and author of Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will. Sarah has spent years helping executives, teams, and professionals harness the power of story to build trust, connection, and influence.Together, Brett and Sarah explore why storytelling is not about epic tales or dramatic moments—it's about everyday experiences told with intention. Sarah shares practical strategies for building a “story portfolio,” setting clear intentions before telling a story, and using performative techniques to keep audiences engaged without feeling pressured.Whether you're leading a team, presenting to clients, or simply trying to connect more deeply in everyday conversations, this episode will help you shift your mindset and discover how stories can become your most powerful leadership tool.Key TakeawaysWhy how you tell stories matters more than the stories themselvesHow to build a story bank or portfolio for leadership momentsThe importance of setting clear intentions before sharing a storyPerformative tips to keep audiences engaged and connectedHow everyday stories create relatability, trust, and influence

Discover how personality assessments like StrengthsFinder and Working Genius help church leaders hire the right staff and build stronger teams. Learn practical ways to use personality profiles for team development, understand your staff's wiring, and create a healthy church culture. Perfect for pastors and ministry leaders looking to improve hiring, reduce staff conflict, and maximize team strengths. Topics include: when to use assessments, how to apply them in hiring, team communication strategies, and balancing pragmatic leadership tools with Biblical principles.Here's a few that we've used:- Clifton Strengths: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx- DISC: https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc- APEST: https://www.alanhirsch.org/tests- Working Genius: https://www.workinggenius.com/

Thinking about returning to work after a career break, but feeling paralyzed by the gap on your resume? After years in a demanding executive role, Caroline found herself burned out, unfulfilled, and wondering if this was really "success." Find out how she gave herself permission to walk away, take a two-year career break, and rebuild a work life that finally fits her life and her values.   What you'll learn How to translate 17 years of experience into compelling value propositions when returning from a career break The counterintuitive strategy of stating exactly what you want instead of apologizing for your career hiatus How to leverage assessment tools like StrengthsFinder to rebuild confidence and articulate your unique strengths   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here! Want to chat with someone on the team about your situation? Schedule a conversation   Free Resources What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out! Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers discover their ideal career and find meaningful, well-paid work without starting over.   Related Episodes How to Figure Out What You Really Want (Spotify / Apple Podcasts) Figuring Out Your Perfect Career Match (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)  

Are you ready to sparkle in your career and feel confident as you carve out a life you truly love? Join the Supermums team on this empowering episode of Mums on Cloud Nine, where hosts Kelly-Jace Halls, Heather Black, and Lyn Constantine welcome special guest Kitty Miller, a dynamic entrepreneur who transitioned from corporate life to launching her own ventures. We dive deep into how mums (and anyone relaunching their career) can harness the power of AI to make informed decisions, explore new pathways, and stand out in today's competitive job market. Kitty Miller shares practical, actionable advice from her own experience using AI for career planning, business development, confidence building and personal branding. Discover how large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity can become your personalised career co-pilot. Learn to uncover your superpowers, refine your CV, prep for interviews, and build an authentic personal brand, all while feeling supported and empowered. Whether you're contemplating a career change, returning to work after a break, or just want to discover your next step, this episode is filled with wisdom, encouragement and useful tips that can transform your journey. Key points covered in this episode: How AI tools can help mums relaunch or pivot their careers Creating a personalised AI "job co-pilot" to guide career decisions Building confidence and overcoming self-doubt when returning to work Using AI to analyse job specs, prep for interviews, and refine CVs and cover letters Personalising your AI settings for honest feedback and critical friendship Leveraging AI for networking, business research, and personal branding Discovering your strengths and superpowers to shine in applications and interviews Practical risk management tips for using AI authentically Why you shouldn't wait until you're "100% qualified" before going for your dream job Harnessing the power of network and mentorship in your career development Links & Resources: Visit the Supermums website for further tips and tools: Supermums Find out more about Kitty: https://maze-ccm.com/about/  Kitty also mentioned StrengthsFinder to find your career strengths: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/254033/strengthsfinder.aspx  Join the Supermums community for more inspiration, expert advice, and practical support to help you shine in your career. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and check out our blog for more empowering content! Tune in and begin your journey to confidence, balance, and fulfilment. Let's help you save time and get better results with AI!

Send us a textIf people can't read your value, they can't reward it. We sit down with brand strategist Jen Dalton to turn personal branding from a fuzzy idea into a practical plan you can execute, one small step at a time. Our conversation starts with a simple truth—telepathy isn't a strategy—and builds toward a reputation roadmap that helps you define your strengths, choose the right words, and create monthly evidence that moves you closer to the work you want.We break down the crucial difference between business branding and personal branding, then focus on what actually builds trust: authenticity, vulnerability, and stories with real lessons. Jen shares how to stop confusing personal branding with bragging and start sharing useful insights, mistakes, and wins that help your audience. We talk about finding your niche, making your reputation visible on LinkedIn and video, and why Gen Z rewards leaders who are genuine and clear. You'll hear practical tools—DiSC, StrengthsFinder, Enneagram—for surfacing blind spots, plus a simple exercise to pick three strengths, write a mission statement, and align your language so people perceive you the way you intend.From there, we get tactical. Learn how to build a 12–24 month reputation roadmap, create one proof point each month, and use platforms strategically to show your value without shouting. We discuss leadership branding, aligning actions with words, and building four networks—peers, prospects, giving back, and fun—to stay relevant and resilient. Grant shares his AI Business Accelerator as a live example of building evidence for a future-focused brand, and we explore creative ways to upskill, serve, and stand out without trying to be “an influencer.”Ready to own your story and make your value visible? Listen, take notes, and then pick one action to ship this week. If this conversation helped you, follow the show, share it with a friend who's ready for a pivot, and leave a quick review so more builders can find us.Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates, visit 5starbdm.com. And don't miss Grant McGaugh's new book, First Light — a powerful guide to igniting your purpose and building a BRAVE brand that stands out in a changing world. - https://5starbdm.com/brave-masterclass/ See you next time on Follow The Brand!

Jeremy Miner and Paul Allen unpack how they teamed up to “mass-produce” Jeremy's elite sales training using AI. Paul explains Soar's mission to uplift human talent, drawing on Strengthsfinder and expert-driven AI, while Jeremy shows how 7Q AI turns 33,000+ hours of training into real-time coaching. They dig into hallucinations in generic AI, why retrieval from proprietary content matters, and how reps can get exact word-for-word responses plus targeted clips that match their industry and objections.Learn how to invest in real estate with the Cashflow 2.0 System! Your business in a box with 1:1 coaching, motivated seller leads, & softwares. https://www.wealthyinvestor.com/Want to work 1:1 with Ryan Pineda? Apply at ryanpineda.comJoin our FREE community, weekly calls, and bible studies for Christian entrepreneurs and business people. https://tentmakers.us/Want to grow your business and network with elite entrepreneurs on world-class golf courses? Apply now to join Mastermind19 – Ryan Pineda's private golf mastermind for high-level founders and dealmakers. www.mastermind19.com--- About Ryan Pineda: Ryan Pineda has been in the real estate industry since 2010 and has invested in over $100,000,000 of real estate. He has completed over 700 flips and wholesales, and he owns over 650 rental units. As an entrepreneur, he has founded seven different businesses that have generated 7-8 figures of revenue. Ryan has amassed over 2 million followers on social media and has generated over 1 billion views online. Starting as a minor league baseball player making less than $2,000 a month, Ryan is now worth over $100 million. He shares his experiences in building wealth and believes that anyone can change their life with real estate investing. ...