In Trust

Everyone makes mistakes. So how can leaders build a culture where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities that strengthen trust and propel innovation? In this episode of the In Trust podcast, your trusted co-hosts, Spotlight Trust Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Rick Kitagawa and Lisa Lambert, dig into the human act of making mistakes at work. They explore how leaders can collaborate with their teams to build the trust and psychological safety needed to do innovative work that may lead to mistakes and co-create a culture where people take accountability and embrace learning opportunities. If you want to get better at making mistakes and owning up to them, you won’t want to miss this episode. Show Notes: In Trust podcast episode: Designing a Sustainable Work Experience You’re Excited About - Interview with Dr. Ainsley McCaskill In Trust is produced by: Spotlight Trust.  Learn more about building, earning, extending, and repairing trust and download all our free resources at spotlighttrust.com. You can also pick up our new book, The Future is Trust, at thefutureistrust.com

What’s the root of burnout and why might burnout not be a helpful term? How does building self-trust help you design genuinely satisfying work experiences where you can sustainably show up as your best self without burning out? We dove into these questions and many more with Dr. Ainsley McCaskill, a family physician, hospitalist, and certified coach. Ainsley brings strategy, innovation, and design tools to the way physicians live and practice medicine, helping them challenge the status quo and create sustainable and impactful work experiences that they’re excited about. While Ainsley’s work focuses on physicians, we think much of it applies to high-performers more broadly and those who identify as Type A. If you’re wanting to work at your absolute best and support others in doing so too without burning out, you’ll want to give this episode of In Trust a listen. Show notes: Ainsley’s website Ainsley’s Instagram @radicalsandwiches Ainsley’s Canadian Family Physician article How to practise medicine, well In Trust is produced by: Spotlight Trust.  Learn more about building, earning, extending, and repairing trust and download all our free resources at spotlighttrust.com. You can also pick up our new book, The Future is Trust, at thefutureistrust.com

How does compassion transform our workplaces and how people show up in them? How might we practice compassion as leaders and leverage it as a generous tool to build trust? We explored these questions and more with Mary Freer, the executive director of Compassion Revolution and Freerthinking, a Westpac Social Change Fellow, a TedX speaker, and Member of the Australian Compassion Council. Mary is committed to creating a more compassionate world. She has contributed to Australia’s healthcare system reform in a variety of executive and leadership roles over the past 30 years in both State and National government agencies and not for profit health and social care services.  Mary has founded social change movements and worked closely with global health improvement leaders, clinicians, and administrators in many countries across the world to bring about system improvement. In our conversation, we explored what compassion is, it’s relationship with trust, and it’s power in transforming our workplaces and our world for the better. If you’re interested in creating work cultures that value and revere creating meaningful human connections and help people show up as their best selves, then you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode of In Trust. NOTE: In the show, we mention mid-October, but the Compassion Revolution is now mid-November, so save the date!  Show Notes: Mary Freer’s website Mary Freer on Twitter Compassion Revolution Compassion Collaborative Compassion Conference Compassion Revolution: The Podcast I Shall Be Released by Bob Dylan Notes from the Universe In Trust is produced by: Spotlight Trust.  Learn more about building, earning, extending, and repairing trust and download all our free resources at spotlighttrust.com. You can also pick up our new book, The Future is Trust, at thefutureistrust.com

Most of us underestimate the extent to which we’re all involved in selling. It may not be the traditional view of selling, but we’re all in sales: we’re all in the business of persuading, convincing, and influencing others. So how do you sell in a way that genuinely serves others while bringing out the best in yourself? How might you build trust in yourself as you navigate the nos on the way to the yeses? How can you build a high-performance sales culture that priorities humanity over quotas? We explored these questions and more with Jordan Benjamin, founder of My Core OS, one of the top 15 global sales reps for Hubspot, and is an investor with the Denver Angels supporting Colorado-based startups. Jordan is also the host of the Peak Performance Selling podcast, where he interviews sales leaders about the strategies and tactics top performers use to not only sell effectively but to manage their life better too, building resilience, empathy, and success. Whether you’re a seasoned sales leader or someone who finds sales cringey, you’ll want to give this episode a listen as it’s full of insights that put empathy and service at both the heart of sales and leadership. Show Notes: Connect with Jordan Benjamin on LinkedIn Jordan’s venture My Core OS Listen to Jordan’s podcast Peak Performance Selling Hubspot The definition of sonder To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon In Trust is produced by: Spotlight Trust.  Learn more about building, earning, extending, and repairing trust and download all our free resources at spotlighttrust.com. You can also pick up our new book, The Future is Trust, at thefutureistrust.com

How can project management be a tool to build trust? Why is building trust and psychological safety so important for project teams and what are practical ways project managers can develop these assets? These questions and many more we’re at the heart of our conversation with Kiron Bondale, a project management expert and Senior Consultant at World Class Productivity Inc. Kiron has worked in project management for over 25 years in a multitude of roles including project management office, leadership, delivery, and consulting. He’s an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), which is the professional organization for project management, and has contributed to multiple PMI standards and practice guides, including their flagship guides. Kiron is also a prolific writer, speaker, and trainer, contributing his insights and expertise in project leadership to a wide-range of audiences. He’s also the author of the book Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice: 100 Lessons in Project Leadership. While Kiron was initially drawn to the profession of project management from a very analytical, technology-centric perspective and an opportunity to demonstrate and further develop his hard skills, he soon realized that embracing a people-centric approach was the key to long-term success. In our conversation, Kiron generously shares practical and powerful lessons he’s learned in his own journey as a project leader and what he teaches his students. Whether or not you have the formal title of project manager, you’re likely involved in project work in some way. This episode is loaded with insights to help you and your team thrive while delivering projects you can be proud of. Show Notes: Kiron Bondale’s website World Class Productivity Inc. Kiron Bondale’s book Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice: 100 Lessons in Project Leadership Project Management Institute (PMI) Kiron Bondale on LinkedIn In Trust is produced by: Spotlight Trust.  Learn more about building, earning, extending, and repairing trust and download all our free resources at spotlighttrust.com.

As organizations roll out their post-pandemic work plans, where are many getting tripped up? What must leaders and organizations consider in order to build a high-trust hybrid and remote work culture? Organizations around the world are rolling out their plans for the post-pandemic workplace, many of which involve hybrid or remote approaches. And many are facing pushback from their employees who feel like these plans miss the mark. In this episode of the In Trust podcast, we get into some of the false assumptions leaders are making when it comes to the post-pandemic workplace and how these are eroding trust within their organizations. We also share 6 practical insights to help leaders and organizations leverage this rare opportunity to transform their workplaces for the better by building high-trust hybrid or remote work culture. If you’re contemplating what the post-pandemic workplace might look like, you won’t want to miss this episode of In Trust. Show Notes: Targeted universalism Example community agreements Our new book, The Future Is Trust: Embracing the Era of Trust-Centered Leadership. In Trust is produced by: Spotlight Trust.  Learn more about building, earning, extending, and repairing trust and download all our free resources at spotlighttrust.com. 

How can leaders effectively build bridges across disciplines so that different functions can team up and help their organization run more thoughtfully and successfully? How can greater empathy lead to greater business impact? How can design leaders in particular gain more business confidence so they can bring their problem solving expertise to co-create a different business world, by design? These were just some of the questions we explored in our conversation with Alen Faljic, the Founder and CEO of d.MBA, an online business program made specifically for designers. Alen is an ex-IDEO business designer, one of the most prominent business designers internationally, and host of the d.MBA podcast. In this episode of the In Trust podcast, Alen shares an abundance of wisdom and practical insights that transcend design leadership. We cover a wide-range of topics including how he and the d.MBA team are working to address a key gap in design education that can transform business, how developing a shared language facilitates cross-functional teamwork, how empathy is good for business and how to practice it, how to deconstruct big risks, and more. If you’re interested in building a better business, improving cross-functional collaboration, and harnessing the power of empathy in business, then this episode is for you. Show Notes: d.MBA Listen to the d.MBA podcast d.MBA/course d.MBA/apply Alen Faljic on Twitter Alen Faljic on LinkedIn Sponsored by: Spotlight Trust From the co-founders of Spotlight Trust comes the new book The Future Is Trust: Embracing the Era of Trust-Centered Leadership. Buy the pre-order Kindle edition before June 11th to get a 90% discount at thefutureistrust.com 

How does the level of trust after a decision is made impact product teams (and other teams in your organization too)? How much waste might be happening in your organization because of cognitive biases and what are practical ways to avoid falling into the traps of these biases when it comes to decision making? We explored these questions and many more with Adam Thomas, a product person and technologist based in Harlem, NY who is focused on strategy, team organization, and product management. Adam is currently the Lead Product Manager over at SmartRecruiters, a columnist at BuiltIn, and also shares weekly product management tips and other fun resources in his newsletter. Adam believes that product management isn’t just about getting done what’s on the roadmap; it’s fundamentally about people. So he looks at things in a way that leverages behavioral science, psychology, philosophy, and more to build extraordinary teams that thoughtfully bake culture into what they are developing. In this episode of the In Trust podcast, we talk to Adam about how he helps product teams get better results by putting people first. His practical perspectives and astute observations apply far beyond product management. Whether you’re a product person or a leader in a different domain, you’ll want to give this podcast a listen and take notes. Show Notes: Adam’s website Adam’s newsletter Adam’s YouTube channel, Product & Life As Usual Adam’s film podcast that he co-hosts with Mtume Gant, Within Our Gates Final Account documentary film The Father feature film Sponsored by: Spotlight Trust From the co-founders of Spotlight Trust comes the new book The Future Is Trust: Embracing the Era of Trust-Centered Leadership. The book will be released June 15th 2021. The Kindle edition pre-order is now up (and heavily discounted) at: thefutureistrust.com

What are assets that you have within your organization that external communities would be interested in having access to and even contributing in a way that adds value? What would it look like to take the bold step to open these assets up to the outside world? These are questions Jaime Arredondo explores with public and private organizations of all sizes to multiply the impacts of their efforts and investments by creating innovation communities and open source business models. An international writer, coach, and entrepreneur, Jaime also publishes a newsletter where he shares practical insights to help leaders build bold, open, and community-driven organizations. We had the opportunity to connect with Jaime to chat about the possibilities bold and open projects and business models provide to build trust at scale, create exponential potential, develop leaders, and even bring renewed value to assets that may be collecting dust within the walls of your organization. From Patagonia opening up its supply chain, to Wikipedia, to new ways of thinking about patents, and more, Jaime shared broad ways to think about open source that go far beyond tech and software. If you’re curious about fresh ways to think about community, collaboration, and scaling trust, you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode of the In Trust podcast. Show Notes: Jaime’s website, Bold and Open (sign up to his newsletter here) Jaime on Twitter Jaime’s blog on 3 skills leaders need to develop to avoid losing their communities Jaime’s Open Business Canvas Rachel Botsman’s TED Talk on The Case for Collaborative Consumption Seth Godin’s book Linchpin Jia Jang’s TED Talk on What I learned from 100 Days of Rejection New Power by Jeremy Jeimans and Henry Timms Sponsored by: Spotlight Trust From the co-founders of Spotlight Trust comes the new book The Future Is Trust: Embracing the Era of Trust-Centered Leadership. The book will be released June 15th 2021. For more info, sneak peeks, pre-order specials, and more, visit: thefutureistrust.com

What risks are worth taking? How do you trust yourself to make big decisions when your head and heart are pulling you in different directions? How do you trust your team to blaze a new trail and bring a bold vision to life, especially when you’re working together remotely? These questions were at the core of our recent conversation with Carlos Baena, an award-winning animator, director, and entrepreneur. Currently directing Paramount Pictures’ forthcoming animated feature film The Tiger’s Apprentice (slated for release in 2023), Carlos is someone with a track record of taking risks and trailblazing. In the early 2000s when technology for remote learning and collaboration were just in their infancy, Carlos co-founded the original online animation school AnimationMentor. He later left an established career at Pixar (where he worked on many animated pictures that might have captured your imagination like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Toy Story 3 just to name a few) to take a big risk and produce the Oscar-qualifying animated short La Noria, an innovative endeavor that pushed the edges of genre, technology, and remote collaboration, racked up over 100 awards and was selected for over 150 film festivals worldwide, and led Carlos to co-found Artella, a platform for online collaborative film making. In our conversation, Carlos shares how he thinks about risk-taking and why he has frequently chosen to pursue the road less traveled, how trust has been integral to creating the conditions for successful collaboration in the face of uncertainty, and the role trust plays in facilitating remote work. If you’re thinking about risk in terms of your own decision-making or with respect to leading creative and innovative endeavor’s remotely, be sure to listen to this episode of the In Trust podcast! Show Notes: Carlos Baena’s website La Noria animated short Nightwheel Pictures Artella Animation Mentor Pixar Animated Studios Industrial Light & Magic Bobby Beck Shawn Kelly Eve Skylar Sasha Korellis Mario Grilli BROM HR Giger Zdzisław Beksiński Sponsored by: Spotlight Trust From the co-founders of Spotlight Trust comes the new book The Future Is Trust: Embracing the Era of Trust-Centered Leadership. The book will be released June 15th 2021. For more info, sneak peeks, pre-order specials, and more, visit: thefutureistrust.com