Culture — Podcast — 12 Geniuses

Do you know someone who has been hurt in the past and can’t let it go? They aren’t able to move forward with their life. Or maybe they wanted something really badly, but they didn’t get it. Either way, they are stuck.

This episode is for that person. Dr. Fred Luskin is the author of the book “Forgive for Good.” He is also the director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects. In this interview, he discusses why forgiveness is a key component of resilience. Dr. Luskin shares how grievances are formed, how to overcome them, and why we live happier healthier lives when we forgive others and ourselves.

Dr. Luskin is the director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects, a senior consultant in health promotion at Stanford University, and a professor at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, as well as an affiliate faculty member of the Greater Good Science Center. In addition to “Forgive for Good,” Dr. Luskin is the author of “Forgive for Love: The Missing Ingredient for a Healthy and Lasting Relationship” and co-author of “Stress Free for Good: 10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness” along with Dr. Kenneth Pelletier.

Turning Disruption into Opportunity with Dominic Bowen

If you are a leader for long enough, your organization is going to face a crisis. It might be a massive weather event, a war that interrupts your supply chain, a cybersecurity breach, or another type of disruption. How prepared you are and how you respond to that crisis will determine if it’s devastating or an opportunity.

Dominic Bowen has been working in crisis situations for two decades. A former member of Australian special forces, he’s done humanitarian work after earthquakes and tsunamis, and now he helps organizations prepare for the certainty of the next unexpected challenge.

In this conversation, Dominic discusses the big disruptions - like tsunamis, hurricanes, and military conflicts - that can interrupt any high-functioning organization and the small disruptions that are blind spots for most companies. He also shares what leaders should be thinking about in terms of business continuity and how effective crisis management can lead to unplanned opportunities.

Dominic Bowen is an experienced leader and risk professional, the head of the international operations desk at Europe's leading risk management consultancy, and host of The International Risk Podcast. Dominic has established successful operations in some of the world’s most challenging environments, including Ukraine, Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, Philippines, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Haiti, Liberia, and Nepal.

Building Grit with Shannon Huffman Polson

Being able to bounce back from adversity is a critical skill in being successful in business and in living a healthy, fulfilled life. In general, resilient people have better mental and physical health, are more productive, have a greater sense of purpose, and experience greater success. In this episode, Shannon Huffman Polson discusses the challenges she faced as a pioneer in military aviation. Shannon also shares what she has learned about developing resilience that anyone can apply in the face of disappointment, defeat, and adversity.

Shannon was one of the first women to pilot an Apache attack helicopter in the United States Army. She is also the author of the book “The Grit Factor” which helps people define their story and core purpose, gather and practice the skills to develop grit, and own their uniqueness while leading in difficult times.

At age 19, Shannon became the youngest woman ever to climb Denali, the highest mountain in North America. She went on to reach the summits of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Kilimanjaro. She is the founder of The Grit Institute, a leadership institute committed to whole leader development, and host of The Grit Factor podcast. She also teaches on the faculty of the Tuck School's Leadership and Strategic Initiative Executive Education Program.

Leading with Gratitude with Chester Elton

Research indicates that showing gratitude helps us improve our health, handle adversity, and create stronger relationships. In this interview, Chester Elton, who co-wrote the book Leading with Gratitude, shares how expressing gratitude can also lead to extraordinary business results. He discusses some of the myths about gratitude that are holding leaders back and Chester shares the most powerful gratitude practices that can both help you create a grateful life and excel in the workplace.

Chester and his co-author Adrian Gostick also wrote the book “Anxiety at Work” - one of 14 books they have written together. Chester closes this interview with an overview of what leaders can do to mitigate anxiety at work and create an environment that is safe to discuss mental health challenges.

Chester Elton has spent two decades helping some of the world’s most successful businesses engage their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values. He is co-author of multiple award-winning New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling leadership books including All In, The Carrot Principle, The Best Team Wins, and Anxiety at Work. His books have been translated in more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Psychologist Dr. Rick Aberman | Reaching Peak Performance

When the lights are on and the ball is in play, we tend to forget that athletes are human too. They have families, friends, bills, obligations, and commitments like everyone else. And their jobs are really, really stressful. Failure can lead to the scorn of fans in the arena and on social media. Pundits can be unusually cruel. Coaches and General Managers can be fickle when players underperform and losses mount.

To deal with these pressures, collegiate and professional athletes often turn to a sports psychologist to help them overcome their doubts, regain their confidence, curiosity and purpose, and strive toward performing at their potential. One of those sports psychologists is Dr. Rick Aberman. He is a pioneer in the field and has been working with elite athletes and corporate executives for 30 years.

In this discussion, Dr. Aberman talks about how business leaders and sports coaches can more effectively assess talent, help team members move past failure, manage emotions, build healthy work cultures, and help their people live full, well-rounded lives. One of his most powerful tools is simply asking the people he works with “how good do you want to be?”

After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Aberman became one of the first psychologists in the country to be hired as a member of a sports medicine staff. He initiated a program designed to specifically meet the needs of high performing competitive student-athletes, coaches, and administrators at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Aberman served as the Director of Peak Performance on the medical staff of the Minnesota Twins. In addition, he continues to be a long-standing advisor to athletic teams and coaches at the University of Minnesota. He utilizes the latest thinking in psychology, motivation, neuroscience, and peak performance.

Former NBA Coach Ray Scott | Progress, Not Perfection

This interview is so much more than a discussion about leadership. It’s a reflection on the incredible progress that has been made in the United States and the work that still needs to be done. Born in South Philadelphia, former professional basketball player and coach Ray Scott discusses a formative trip he took as a 12-year-old boy to the segregated South in 1950. He talks about the bravery amid intimidation and death threats of the first African American players in the National Basketball Association. He shares what he learned from pioneering leaders he was fortunate to meet and get to know like Muhammad Ali, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Aretha Franklin, and his mentor and coach Earl Lloyd.

Additionally, Coach Scott talks about his role as a leader during his playing and coaching career in professional basketball. Ray discusses the importance of forming habits, being a pioneer, establishing the right mindset in very difficult circumstances. mentorship, determining individual readiness to lead other people, building a self-reliant team, and coaching former players.

In 1961, Ray Scott was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the #4 overall pick in the National Basketball Association Draft. His professional playing career spanned 11 years with the Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, and Virginia Squires. He became an assistant coach and eventually the head coach of the Detroit Pistons during the early 1970s. In 1974, Ray became the first African American Coach of the Year. He went on to become the head men’s basketball coach at Eastern Michigan University and then had a long, successful career in business. Ray is the author of The NBA in Black and White: The Memoir of a Trailblazing NBA Player and Coach.

Leadership and Love with MGySgt Scott Stalker

Master Gunnery Sergeant Scott Stalker joins the show again to discuss the topic of leadership. In his first appearance back in 2020, he shared his thoughts on “The Future of War.” This time, he shares what he has learned about leadership during his nearly three decades as a member of the United States Marine Corps.

In this episode, MGySgt Stalker and host Don MacPherson talk about developing culture, the importance of values, giving and receiving feedback, dealing with failure, motivating and inspiring a team, sacrifice for the good of the team, onboarding new leadership, building trust, and leading in battle. They end the conversation with a discussion about mental health and why “Love” can be the most important leadership trait.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Stalker is Command Senior Enlisted Leader of US Space Command in Colorado Springs. For nearly 30 years, he has served in the United States Marine Corps.

Tom Fishman | Curiosity, Compassion, & Courage

The United States is more politically and culturally divided than it has been since the 1960s and Americans are fatigued. They are demanding solutions. Tom Fishman believes if curiosity, compassion, and courage can be cultivated into daily habits, we can overcome the polarization, blind tribalism, and dehumanization threatening the social fabric of our communities.

Not only does Tom believe teaching others to be curious, compassionate, and courageous will heal the differences in our communities, he makes the case for bringing these skills into our organizations to make them run more effectively.

In this episode, Tom discusses the extend to which division exists in the United States, how we got here, and how we can bridge this divide. The key is not to demand people come to the middle. Rather, a willingness to understand others without judgment is critical to erasing the notion that people with different ideas than our own are our enemies. Tom talks about how Starts With Us is using social media and technology to teach people the skills needed to communicate and understand others who may see the world differently. Tom also talks about how leaders who teach these skills to their teams can elevate performance in their organizations.

Tom Fishman is CEO of Starts With Us. With an education in physics, Tom has spent his career solving complex problems for media companies like Facebook, Viacom, and Condé Nast. Now, Tom is using his experience with media and technology to habituate the daily practice of curiosity, compassion and courage in order to foster independent thinking and constructive communication across lines of difference. Starts With Us is a movement working to overcome extreme political and cultural division in America.

Building a Championship Team with Lou Nanne

In the competitive business of professional sports, there is no template or formula for building a winner. It does, however, require effective leadership from ownership, general managers, and coaches all the way down to the trainers, traveling secretaries, and front-office personnel. Lou Nanne has been involved in professional hockey for six decades and has studied the attributes of winning cultures across the major professional team sports throughout that time.

In this interview, Lou discusses the creation of a championship professional sports franchise and the leadership necessary to build a winner. Lou talks about culture creation, dealing with failure, mitigating the complications of a mid-season trade, setting expectations, managing emotions, creating a sense of belonging, promoting pro-social behavior, forgiving failure, and how the lessons he has learned about leadership in professional sports apply to other businesses.

Lou Nanne has been a leading figure in the hockey community for decades. Lou was captain of the 1968 United States Olympic Hockey team. Later he played, coached, and served as general manager for the Minnesota North Stars. Lou is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the Lester Patrick trophy for his impact on the sport of hockey.

Leading Through Loss with Maj Lauren Serrano

In this episode, Maj Lauren Serrano shares the tragic story of a Marine who took his own life while under her command. We candidly discuss mental health, how she led the more than 200 other Marines under her command through the loss, and how she managed herself through that difficult period of her life.

Most importantly, Maj Serrano provides advice for other leaders who may have a team member or colleague struggling with mental health challenges. Over the last two years, so many people in leadership positions have had to deal with unexpected loss and mental health concerns among members of their teams.Mental health issues are not to be ignored whether they are our own issues or issues with members of our team. Please seek professional help if you or someone on your team is having suicidal thoughts. In the United States, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans hotline can be reached at: 116 123.

Creating a Leadership Driven Culture with Ray Kelly

In this episode, leadership expert Ray Kelly and 12 Geniuses host Don MacPherson discuss the five-levels of leadership. A level-five leader mobilizes a group of people around a common cause to drive a result consistently and develops other leaders who can do the same. This is the key to creating a leadership driven culture. Ray provides advice for how leaders can ascend from levels one, two, and three to levels four and five. They also talk about the importance of leaders continually developing themselves and others, why creating a sense of belonging is critical to effective team performance, how values enable employee engagement, and why high-potential employees need to constantly be challenged or they will leave for other opportunities.

The Cleaner, Greener, and Smarter Jail of the Future - An Interview with Ken Ricci

An established justice architect, Ken Ricci discusses the impact building design has on those involved in the justice system. Nearly two thirds of those held in jails are still innocent in the eyes of our legal system, yet they are detained in dark, dingy, unsafe spaces that deprive them of a healthy lifestyle and access to the outside world. Driven by a passion to make correctional facilities more humane, Ken has dedicated his career to using innovative design to create facilities that are both safer and more comfortable for those inside.

In this interview, Ken describes the impact of design on the detention experience and provides insight into how we can build facilities that are safer for the guards and the detainees while still providing comfortable, open spaces with natural light. Ken also discusses his perspective on the future of our justice facilities.

Ken Ricci is a nationally recognized leader in the field of justice planning and design. Ken has devoted his entire career to designing better correctional facilities and he continues to educate others as a lecturer for the American Institute of Architects and the National Institute of Corrections.

Solving Sexual Harassment and Bullying with Virtual Reality - An Interview with Morgan Mercer

A breakthrough tech entrepreneur, Morgan Mercer discusses the power of Virtual Reality in building empathy and creating a safer work environment. Of the women that report sexual harassment in their workplace, 80% leave within two years. This has significant ripple effects from a career change, loss of economic opportunity, and even tarnished company profiles. As we look to the next decade, we have many social issues to resolve and one of the best ways to do that will be through empathy.

In this interview, Morgan Mercer explains why we need better training for a safer workplace, the impact of #MeToo on training standards, and how to build empathy through immersive experiences. She also discusses her experience as a woman of color in the tech industry, her drive to empower others through VR, and her take on the future of VR.

Morgan Mercer is the CEO and Founder of Vantage Point which serves clients around the world from their headquarters in Los Angeles.

Creating a Culture of Innovation with Simone Bhan Ahuja

An innovation expert, Simone Bhan Ahuja explains how large, established organizations can innovate and avoid disruption even in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous time. Only 14% of new graduates want to work for large organizations. Instead, they’re attracted to the start-up path and opportunities to be creative and innovative in their careers. In order to attract top talent and remain disruptive in any industry, larger organizations will need to adopt innovation at every level of their organization.

In this interview, Simone explains the argument for encouraging innovation and intrapreneurship, the barriers many organizations face in the pursuit of innovation, and the importance of creating a culture of psychological safety. Simone also provides insight on how to build an innovative structure within an organization, the benefits of keeping projects frugal, and what leaders can do today to start implementing these ideas.

Simone is the author of Disrupt It Yourself, and a co-author of Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth. For over 15 years Simone has studied emerging markets and how organizations can continue to innovate across all levels.

A Story of Self-Disruption and Reinvention - Catherine Carr of Doctors Without Borders

Every day, 40,000 people around the world work in extremely stressful situations to help provide assistance to people in need. People working for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) leave behind their comfortable lives for the opportunity to make the world a better place. On assignment they expand their self-knowledge and limitations, experience, and adapt to entirely new ways of living while helping those in need. When it’s time to return home, they experience the challenges of re-assimilating to their native culture. In this episode, humanitarian Catherine Carr shares her decade-long experience working for Doctors Without Borders and how the lessons of working as a humanitarian translate to other areas of work once you return home. Catherine discusses:

Part I: The Humanitarian Experience

Applying to Doctors Without Borders, culture shock and adaptation, finding meaning at work, learning from locals, the various roles within Doctors Without Borders, Tea in the Morning, relationship building during “morning tea,” overcoming the fear that prevents personal growth, finding happiness.

Part II: Lessons to Learn from a Humanitarian

Advice for overcoming fear and facing future changes, resistance to change, agility, discovering yourself, getting out of your comfort zone (without leaving the country), the power of teamwork, building trust with employees and community members, the unique skills of a humanitarian, coping in high-stress situations, burnout vs. stress, belief vs. truth, disruption avoidance.

Organizations, People, Resources, Places Mentioned:

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), PB&J Family Services, Kenya, Iraq, the Philippines, Haiti, Central African Republic, Jordan, South Sudan

www.catherinecarr.global

“I was scared of making the change, but I think what scared me even more was not making the change.”

Catherine Carr describing her decision to disrupt her career as a Human Resources leader to join Doctors Without Borders

12 Geniuses Podcast

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