Part I: Jon Berghoff on Unlocking Your Strengths and Group Genius

Jon Berghoff is the founder of the Flourishing Leadership Institute. Jon leads a global team of coaches and facilitators who are working to solve what many would consider to be one of the most significant opportunities of our time. It's the opportunity to unlock the collective intelligence, the group genius, in our organizations and in our communities, in a way that not only creates necessary healing in the world but ultimately the kind of exponential changes that we must figure out how to deliver. Just to give an example, in the last 12 months alone, this method has been brought in with companies like BMW, Nike, Facebook and soon to be used with the top trainers at Keller Williams, which has been recognized as the top training company in the world. Jon has become a leader of leaders. Jon is also known for developing the xChange Methodology, an approach to teaching leaders the practices of design and facilitation for unlocking intellectual, social and communal capital across diverse groups. Twice annually, a growing community of 250+ xChange Certified leaders come together for shared learning, storytelling, and collectively designing the practices being called upon by leaders of the future. I have done the xChange certification and it is incredibly powerful both for the amazing community, guidance, mentorship and learning how to facilitate and extract the collective genius from groups, teams, and companies. Jon also gratefully wrote the bonus chapter in my book, Get a PhD in YOU: Business Edition, which explains this work in beautiful detail. Check out more about Jon and FLI at lead2flourish.com and xChange at lead2flourish.com/training. If you want to connect further with Jon, he graciously gave his email: hello@lead2flourish.com. WATCH THE EPISODE HERE

Jon has become a very special mentor, guide, coach and dear friend to me. You'll be blown away by the work he's doing all over the world around creating a more human connection, healing, purpose and collective wisdom derived from strengths and deep listening. Because there was so much to talk about (trust me, friends, we could have kept going for another hour), we split the interview into two parts. You won't want to miss a minute as he shares tons of incredible resources, ways to create deeper awareness and presence within yourself and how to do this at the larger level of the whole. Things You'll Learn From This Episode The question we are always asking ourself in any situation is 'can I be myself right now and still fit in'. It is crucial to know that since we're all asking this, and that the remedy is creating psychological safety. The way to do this:

1. It starts with yourself and you need a great awareness of yourself
2. Human connection, which means asking questions and listening with attention and intention, otherwise known as deep listening.

Deep listening is about being fully present with the other person, unattached to be right or the outcome and allowing yourself to see through the eyes and heart of that person.

• When your why is strong enough, the how will figure itself out.
• Change the way you look at purpose - instead of being a noun or thing, look at it as a verb. In other words, how am I purposing myself? How can I use my pain or past challenges as a source of purpose?
• The principles to reveal and design our best:
  • Our work is based on our greatest source of change, which is done through changing the conversation.
  • Speed of curiosity - change the questions we ask
  • Strength of nature - everything grows towards the sun and that which gives it life. Asking life-giving questions becomes the source of nourishment, flourishing and thriving.
  • Design questions to make others to come alive.

In sum, a system is in plain English, a group of people. Whether it's your family system, work or business system, spiritual community or other systems you are part of, remember that just like nature; full thriving happens when we leverage our diversity, not our sameness. Links and Resources:

• Book: Conversations Worth Having by Jackie Stavros & Cheri Torres, and The Purpose Economy by Aaron Hurst
• Join Jon, Jon Vroman (Founder of the Front Row Foundation) and many others at the Front Row Foundation Summit in Cleveland on July 21 - 23 at frontrowfoundation.org/summit
• The Barrett Values Index can be accessed at valuescentre.com
• Read the podcast conversation transcript here.

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Connect with Jon Berghoff

• Twitter: @jon_berghoff
• Facebook: facebook.com/Jon.Berghoff
• LinkedIn: Jon Berghoff
• Website: Lead2Flourish.com

Download our podcast interview with Jon Berghoff here on iTunes

Join host Julie Reisler, author and multi-time TEDx speaker, each week to learn how you can tap into your best self and become your You-est You® to achieve inner peace, happiness and success at a deeper level! Tune in to hear powerful, inspirational stories and expert insights from entrepreneurs, industry thought leaders, and extraordinary human beings that will help to transform your life. Julie also shares a-ha moments that have shaped her life and career, and discusses key concepts from her book Get a PhD in YOU

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