Beneath the Transaction

We welcomed Dr. Cassie Holmes on our show and to our leadership institute. Cassie joined us in Salem as the keynote speaker at our end-of-the-year leadership banquet. Cassie is an incredible thinker and contributor to her field, she has recently written a book called“Happier Hour”, which is discussed in this episode. Cassie is an expert on time and happiness, she has researched the topic relentles...

The two most important days of our lives are the day we were born and the day we find out why—understanding our 'why", or our purpose, Is an essential part of living. One could ask if we are even living without knowing it, or are we just passively passing through life? To have a purpose is profound, and our guest Commissioner Kevin Cameron is a prime example of someone who has lived with a purpose...

Each year we welcome a new cohort of leaders to go through our 12-month leadership program. In this episode, we share a discussion with one of our soon-to-be Groundwork Leaders regarding what they are looking forward to next year. Evann Remington is a local business owner in the Salem area. Over 15 years ago, she started Fresh n' Local Foods. She is at the point in her career where she longs to kn...

Those who are familiar with building a following on social media know how difficult it can be to get a few thousand followers, let alone tens of thousands. Cam Browne, a local influencer joined our show. Cam has built an online community with over 40k followers on various platforms. Cam is a humble, quiet, and unsuspecting person. He wouldn't call himself as a leader who is out in front of people...

Aaron Ng'ambi has spent the past several years learning from various leaders in his country of Zambia. He has met with political leaders, sometimes in their homes, and asked questions and listened. He has wanted to understand what makes great leaders, and what they have in common. Aaron hopes to return to his country in due time and serve in a political capacity as a leader so he can influence oth...

Menlo Innovations is a software development company that has been around for 21 years. As the CEO and Co-Founder, Richard Sheridan travels the world telling people about what his company does. They are not an ordinary tech company, their mission is to bring joy to the tech world and end suffering as it relates to technology. They have discovered and built an amazing culture that grasps human energ...

For the second time our show welcomes entrepreneur Chris Udall on the show. Last time (episode 45) we discussed his non profit "Rebuilding For Peace" that has done some amazing work to find and create elicit entrepreneurs. This time, Chris is setting out a venture capitalist to address the food crisis much of our world is facing. He brings new light to AgTech and space farming in a way you will no...

Ryan Allen spent nearly a decade in the NFL and in that time had the opportunity to play with some of the best, including Tom Brady, he also was able to learn from great leaders/coaches like Bill Belichick. However, Ryan has been learning from leaders around him for his entire life, from his childhood soccer coach to many others. Working through adversity at any level is something that all of us m...

The great resignation has been making headlines as a hot topic for some time now. There are many theories as to why it is happening, as well as many prescriptions offered. Some good, and some bad. We decided to take this topic on with a guest who has been thinking about it a lot in her work as a leadership coach. Andrea Horvath joined our show and tells of her journey from when she left the corpor...

Julio Rincon, Lead Storyteller at the Arbinger Institute, joins our show to discuss the power of stories. Julio has incredible experience producing film and videos that tell amazing stories. He has been able to travel the world to capture stories, interview people, hear others share their stories, and then digitally produce them. We discuss what he has learned over the years, his process, and ulti...

Chad Ford, author of Dangerous Love and global mediator/peacebuilder, joins our show for the third time. In this conversation, we explore the idea that standing your ground in conflict, even for something you know is true, does not lead to peace. We live in a world where people are divided and constantly at battle. Whether it is a political ideology, religion, etc., we often feel that in order to...

A Samoan proverb was recently shared with us: "o le ala i le pule o le tautua." It translates as, "The pathway to leadership is through service." On this episode, we're joined by Matt Hawkins, Administrative Services Director of Polk County. With colleague Kasha Coombs, we dive into the concept of servant leadership--an idea that is much easier to discuss than actually apply. We talk about its ben...

Our friend and fellow podcaster just down the road from us, Jacob Espinoza, joins us in studio. Jacob and Chris have both learned a great deal from podcasting--particularly the amazing potential every human being has to unlock their potential through their ideas, what they are capable of, what they can overcome, and who they can become. We dive into some key elements that we've noticed, from the a...

Culture is a word that can have several meanings and is often misinterpreted in the organizational world. We talk of culture, we espouse culture, and we create culture; but do we "own" our culture in the workplace? Our guest and old friend in this episode, Seamus Fitzgerald, has made a life out of culture change. He has grown up deeply appreciating his Maori culture and other Polynesian culture; h...

We had two amazing high school students join us to discuss their journey of leadership. In the short span of just a couple years, these two students, Brody and Delaney, have learned lessons about leadership that take a lifetime for most. When you hear two 17-year-olds say that they want every kid who walks through their high school doors to feel like they belong . . . it catches your attention. Yo...

A current leader in Groundwork, Jasmine White, shares key realizations she has made over the past two months participating in the program. Innovation emerged as a focal point of our conversation--especially the contribution it has in creating conditions for transformational change. Jasmine is the Executive Director of Capital Community Media and has moved to Salem from the opposite side of the cou...

With us again is Seth Elliott, author of The Merlin Advantage. Seth joined our show last year through a mutual connection for one of our listeners' favorite episodes (#33), to discuss ideas from his book. He was in town to speak at one of our monthly leadership sessions recently, so we had to get him in studio again and go deeper into his book. Seth is a joy to be with and this episode delves furt...

Jim Ferrell, bestselling author and Founder of Withiii Leadership Center, visited Groundwork to speak at our end-of-year banquet. We had to get him in studio for the second time to discuss concepts that are pertinent to what we teach within our institute. Jim has a vision for bridging divides and bringing people together, which is in line with our desire at Groundwork to create "conditions" for tr...

The average school superintendent serves for about 5 years at a time, which makes education a breeding ground for organizational change and leadership transitions. Mary Paulson has served as the Chief of Staff for many superintendents; she has seen the reality of change up close. Change is difficult and the majority of people resist it. Mary provides such a great perspective from what she has lear...

The CEO of our local Chamber of Commerce, Tom Hoffert, joins us in studio. Together we discussed the interplay between what we know and what we learn. We talked about our community and what leadership means within a community; the principles of leading at the community level apply at all levels. Leaders bring people together, unite them, and galvanize them toward a common goal. Strong leadership i...

Too many of us, especially leaders, get caught up in problem-solving, day in and day out. This is not necessarily bad--problems need to be solved, after all. The question we should be asking is, who should be solving them? As a leader, getting caught up in continuous problem solving can lead to days that feel consistently busy, without much closure or direction. If we can learn to give people the...

An experienced community leader, Tim Sinatra, joined us in the studio to discuss what he has learned from leading turnaround efforts inside of organizations. Tim has a breadth of knowledge valuable to anyone. This is a must-listen episode with a guest that we have wanted on our show for a long time. Salem is lucky to have him.

Special guest and consultant Kay Hazen spoke at our leadership institute and we were lucky enough to steal a few additional moments of her time for the show. We pick up the conversation right where we left off when she last joined us, focusing on leadership brands. It doesn't matter if we hold the title of being a leader or not, if we are young or old, in our personal life or professional life. Wh...

Over the past couple years, we have made a consistent effort to learn, grow, and improve our Rooted curriculum. In this episode, Chris and Tk Ford discuss several of the theoretical underpinnings of the framework. If you are curious about the Rooted curriculum or want some inspiration for the day, this is a great episode for you.

Good friend and CEO/Founder of NGO Rebuild for Peace, Christopher Udall, joins our show. We have been wanting to get Chris as a guest for a while now and we finally found a mutual time to connect. Chris has already had what seems to be a lifetime of experiences across the globe, engaging in peacebuilding efforts surrounding illicit trades (human trafficking, drugs, etc.). This episode is both heav...