Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

As leaders, how is what we say and how we say it critical to staff growth and organizational success? In his new book, Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say – and What You Don't , L. David Marquet ( USS Navy ret) explains. Here, he digs deeper into how language can transform leadership and staff performance. Ultimately changing the language we use with each other helps us see th...

How do you best manage life's transitions, and the inevitable ups and downs of life? In this episode of Getting Unstuck, we'll hear some interesting suggestions based on the concept of "Emotional Empowerment" from Dr. Carla Cooke : psychotherapist, speaker, radio host, and author.

Our lives are rarely linear. Most of us start out "here" and then make a series of twists and turns. Sometimes we're the driver. Sometimes fate and opportunity take the wheel. And sometimes someone else says "I'll drive." In this "Transformation Story," we hear from Randy Ginsburg – his journey from being bullied to entrepreneur to author sharing a path of potential growth for others.

In this conversation, we are joined by Tara Nolan . Tara is a leadership coach, a team coach, a facilitator of leadership training programs, a keynote speaker and host of "The Game of Teams" podcast. As Tara shares her backstory, we learn about her seemingly easy ability to "reinvent" herself, but also her need to better understand what she was moving away from and the reasons why. Her recognition...

Our lives are rarely linear. Most of us start out "here" and then make a series of twists and turns. In this series, we call "Transformation Stories," we interview one individual about how they came to be where they are now – aligned with who they really are and where they want to be in life. In this episode, we talk with Rachel Druckenmiller . Rachel knew early on that she had a voice that could...

The New Year fast approaches, and that means 'tis the season of "New Year's resolutions." It's not surprising that we take on these goals. Most of us want something greater for ourselves – a different version of ourselves perhaps. But wanting and doing are two different enterprises. The sad fact is that most our best intentions fail as early as February. In this episode, we posit why this might be...

What does real organizational change look like in action? We've talked a lot about change here on our podcast, and we written extensively about the process in our forthcoming book, Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change . (Corwin Press) But writing about it and actually facilitating it are different. So today, we shift from our traditional interview format and have an informal...

"The Eagle has landed!" The success story of the Apollo space program is well known. Less well known is how the Apollo team overcame hurdles and setbacks to achieve success. The effort required changes in computing, rocketry, organizational management, problem solving and attitudes. It required everyone to experiment to find out what worked, and to learn that just because something had never been...

What are the hallmarks of an organization that relentlessly seeks to operate within a culture of continuous learning? And what does the leader look like who leads such an organization with intentionality? We dive deep into those intertwined topics with the help of Mark Ethier , Co-founder and CEO of iZotope, makers of intelligent audio technology.

One of the problems that plague most organizations is when and how to change. For many, the process looks like fruit-of-the-month club: they try "this" until a new "this" comes along. Jim Collins wrote about this behavior in Good to Great . To avoid this phenomenon, great organizations employ something Collins called "the flywheel" process – a process involving 4-6 elements with each element impac...

Most of us could likely identify someone we think is "charismatic." But when it comes to defining charismatic qualities, we're likely to fall silent or offer banalities such as "electric," "engaging," or "magnetic." Ever curious, Joe Kwon , "The Connection Counselor," set out to more carefully outline those qualities that make up the charismatic persona, and the result is his new book, Unlock Your...

Organizations thrive and survive on the creativity of their employees. But what constitutes "creativity"? Are we born with it? Can it be drawn out of us by our teammates, manager, or the type of work we do? And what is the relationship between creativity and employee engagement, and how do both impact problem solving? Dr. Tracy Stanley , a social scientist and author of The Engagement Whisperer ,...

The performance of U.S. education is often the recipient of criticism – and much of it is justified. Despite mountains of research on what works and the strong effort of most educators, many of the students coming out of our K-12 system are only basically equipped to participate in and contribute to society. Why? Jay McTighe , a renowned educator, and Dr. Judy Willis , a neuroscientist and teacher...

Why do some of our communications land as intended and others don't? Say "Hello!" to Lila Smith , a messaging consultant and "Communications Breakthrough Coach." Lila has successfully leveraged her theatrical training to become one of the world's most recognized and sought-after communications experts. Here, we'll learn how to improve our messaging so that it's serving our purpose and the listener...

Most of us encounter adversity of some juncture during our lives. How we respond to it says a lot about who we are. Heather Younger certainly encountered adversity through a particular set of circumstances early in her life. We'll learn how Heather responded through the remarks she made at the May 2019 Colorado Springs TEDx. The title of her talk was "Transform Adversity into Opportunity with One...

In this "Transformation Story," we talk with Jessica Du Bois. Jessica is a consultant and leader in the employee benefit industry who helps organizations by creating people- and purpose-focused benefits programs.  Jessica's transformation story began when she was asked to join a small gathering of influential leaders. Listen to what two of the participants said to her and how that catalyst prompte...

What does it mean to provide candid and compassionate feedback? Why is this "ying" and "yang" of helping staff to improve so important to changing behavior? We'll get answers to these questions and others from two seasoned educators and prolific authors, bloggers, and podcasters, Joe Jones and T.J. Vari .

How might you think differently about how your organization works and approaches change? Here, we'll learn how Rona Wilensky , Ivette Visbal, and a team of educators wrestled with this question when they decided to break the mold of the traditional high school. Rona is the founding and former principal of New Vista, an alternative high school in Boulder, Colorado, and Ivette Visbal is currently th...

How human is your workplace? How can what works well at work, work even better? Whom do you rely on to initiate change at work: Yourself? Or "leadership" from above? We'll discuss these and other questions with Mike Vacanti , an organizational change catalyst. Mike is also the inspiration behind the #Human First Club – an intimate conference that seeks to "address the future of work, personal and...

In this episode of "Getting Unstuck – Shift for Impact," we're joined by Kris Macc . Kris is the founder and president of KMACC Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in emotional intelligence and leadership development in the workplace. She is also the author of the recently published and highly acclaimed #NOAPPROVALNEEDED, a book that brings together the consistency of voice of women in their...

Kevin Strauss is the CEO of Uchi, an app for connecting with others authentically and privately. Kevin trained as a biomedical engineer and invented medical devices for improving people's lives. Over time, he realized that a key element in whether individuals and teams could innovate successfully had more to do with soft-side human skills than their hard-side technical skills. Kevin turned this pa...

In this episode, we're joined by Marvin Cadet, a Project Manager for The Mission Continues. The Mission Continues is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit that supports Armed Forces' veterans to continue their service, and empower communities with their talent, skills and preparedness to generate visible impact. Marvin helps run critical community service projects in the Northeast – revitalizing neigh...

In this episode, we're joined by Bill Ruggles , a true Zen-master of project management. Bill will help us demystify the role of PM as it pertains to complex change initiatives. He'll talk extensively about three factors that organizations must consider when planning a major shift. Along the way we'll learn how PM can help organizations avoid having their change initiatives become part of the 70%...

Do you have to be naturally creative to innovate? Or is there a method and are there tools that everyone can use innovate? We'll explore this question and others with Amnon Levav, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Systematic Inventive Thinking (S.I.T.), a Tel Aviv-based innovation firm that works with organizations all over the world. Amnon will explain why innovating against the product,...

Do you have to be naturally creative to innovate? Or is there a method and are there tools that everyone can use innovate? We'll explore this question and others with Amnon Levav , co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Systematic Inventive Thinking (S.I.T.), a Tel Aviv-based innovation firm that works with organizations all over the world. Amnon will explain why innovating against the product...