Intentional Performers

Dan Grunfeld is a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. An Academic All-American and All-Conference basketball selection at Stanford, Dan played professionally for eight seasons in top leagues around the world, including in Germany, Spain, and Israel. Dan’s writing has been published more than 40 times in media outlets such as Sports Illustrated, The Jerusalem Post, and NBC News. Dan earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2017 and lives with his wife and son in the Bay Area, where he works in venture capital. In this episode, we discuss Julie Elion and how she has impacted Dan’s career (9:10), if his dad was an analytical player (10:38), why his dad could transition to this other side of his career (12:39), if his analytical mind helps him in the venture world in the way that it hindered him on the basketball court (13:45), how he thought about expectations (15:49), why he went down the venture route (17:42), more on why he didn’t ultimately pursue a career in sports today (21:04), what tearing his ACL was like as a player and the mental challenges that came along with it (24:30), his mom (27:02), what it was like improving so drastically as a player (27:53), if he plays the “what if” game (29:15), if his game would have translated to today’s style of basketball (30:34), playing in Israel (33:10), Jerusalem (34:37), if he is spiritual (37:18), his family’s story (43:57), what his grandma was like (48:14), his grandfather (50:40), being a victim, a survivor, or a thriver (56:30), his father’s experiences with anti-Semitism (58:30), being Jewish and the challenges that come along with it (1:03:48), Peace Players (1:06:38), and some more on basketball (1:09:17). Make sure to check out Dan’s website here, as well as his Twitter and Facebook pages! Lastly, I would encourage you to purchase his book By the Grace of the Game anywhere where books are sold! Thank you so much to Dan for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Ethan Kross is one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. An award-winning professor in the University of Michigan’s top ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, he is the director of the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory. Ethan has participated in policy discussion at the White House and has been interviewed about his research on CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper Full Circle, and NPR’s Morning Edition. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Science. In this episode, we discuss controlling thoughts (5:44), the difference between thoughts and thinking (8:10), how feelings and emotions can drive behavior (9:13), how we know when thoughts are serving us vs. getting in our way (12:46), quick decisions and thinking in sports performance (18:44), thinking about fear and anxiety as an expert (23:35), self-leadership (26:21), what Ethan tries to impart in his kids (29:52), what he enjoys doing most in life professionally (34:32), context, and when something serves us vs when it hinders us, as well as introversion and extraversion (39:15), the pandemic and its effects on chatter (46:07), echo chambers and social media (50:15), the power of belief (52:55), how schools should be teaching tools and techniques around chatter (56:09), third person self-talk (57:41), routines and rituals that help him show up and do well (59:44), and chatter at home (1:01:56). Make sure to check out Ethan’s website here, as well as the website for the Emotion and Self Control Lab at the University of Michigan here! Lastly, I would encourage you to purchase Ethan’s book Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It anywhere where books are sold. Thank you so much to Ethan for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Kevin DeShazo is an author, podcaster, and founder of “Fieldhouse Media,” which helps college athletes, coaches, and administrators be better on social media. Kevin also helps leaders and teams to create a championship culture with his company “Culture Wins.” In this episode, we discuss what comes to mind when Kevin thinks of the word “culture” (5:36), what qualities positively impact culture (7:01), why Kevin is drawn to sports (8:28), how he got interested in organizational development (11:21), his persistence (12:45), the values passed down to him by his parents (14:45), working in health care (15:49), why he changed course in his career (18:26), working for others compared to working for yourself (21:05), investing in others (22:34), getting bored and Keep Chopping Wood and how they play together (25:54), how to know when to stop chopping wood (27:24), what sparked his desire to form Fieldhouse Media (29:54), what we should know about social media (32:15), Twitter (34:47), his process in using social media (35:54), how he instructs people on social media use (39:03), how to prevent social media addiction (40:49), kids (44:53), discipline (49:16), mindsets during the pandemic (51:20), how he sets his mind when performing (52:43), when he feels most alive (56:41), where he sees his work evolving in 5-10 years (59:45), and scaling (1:06:34). Make sure to check out Kevin on all social media platforms @KevinDeShazo, and you can find the Culture Wins website here and Kevin’s personal website here. Lastly, I would encourage you to purchase Kevin’s book, Keep Chopping Wood, anywhere where you can buy books. Thank you so much to Kevin for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Damon West is someone who believes in inside-out transformation. Today, Damon is a college professor who is nationally known keynote speaker and best-selling author. He travels the country sharing his message. But, it wasn’t always as bright for Damon as it is today. At 20 years old, he was a division one starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, when he then suffered a career ending injury, turning to hardcore drugs to cope with the disappointments of his life. After graduation, he worked in the US Congress where he was a national fundraiser on a US presidential campaign. He eventually trained to be a stockbroker for UBS, one of the premier financial institutions in the world. It was at UBS where he was introduced to meth, becoming instantly hooked. While you hear these highs and these bright spots and what society often deems a success, Damon looked the part. And yet, he actually battled demons and battled severe substance abuse. As a result, he impacted lives of many innocent people from choices that he made in order to feed his meth habit. He robbed a lot of people, he became a burglar, and he ran an organized crime ring, ultimately leading to his incarceration. Damon went to jail for 7+ years, but he was actually convicted for 65 years, basically a life-sentence considering the time of his conviction. Damon’s story, in the end, is one of redemption, grit, and determination. In this episode, we discuss Call me MISTER and how it’s changing the world (7:14), what he learned about race while in prison (12:55), race outside of prison (16:33), cancel culture (24:19), being labeled as gifted and talented as a young man and how it both helped and hurt him (28:32), substance abuse (31:19), what allowed him to persevere in prison (35:01), what he does today to make sure he stays clean (37:35), good and evil (42:33), and why he has decided to pour his heart and soul into speaking (49:02). Make sure to check out Damon on both Twitter and Instagram @DamonWest7. Additionally, I would encourage you to check out Damon’s website here. Lastly, Damon’s foundation website can be found here as well. Thank you so much to Damon for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Ed Offterdinger is Co-founder and Chairman of AO People Partners, a leadership development and people strategies firm. Ed is a strategic advisor and leadership coach with more than thirty years of leadership and client service experience as managing partner and CEO of large advisory companies. Prior to co-founding AO, Ed was Executive Managing Partner of the national advisory firm, Baker Tilly. Ed helps CEOs and other leaders improve their performance and do what’s best for their team, their business, and society. As cofounder and chair of the Washington, DC, chapter of Conscious Capitalism, Ed has been helping spread the message about the power of business to do good. Catherine Allen is Co-founder and CEO of AO People Partners. Catherine is passionately dedicated to helping leaders and organizations lean into the power of developing people to drive business success and meaningful social contribution. Catherine brings over 25 years of experience working collaboratively with industry leaders helping them and their organizations to thrive in both the human behavioral and process aspects of performance and organizational effectiveness. Catherine has a successful track record of helping leaders develop the awareness and "people" skills they need to define and communicate clear vision and direction, make difficult decisions, successfully lead their organizations through change, motivate and engage an intergenerational workforce, and cultivate their own authenticity and presence. As AO’s CEO, her focus is on guiding her team to build the full suite of capabilities to help leaders reimagine and create the culture that make investing in conscious people development more integrated and holistic. We are proud to welcome Ed and Catherine as Conscious Capitalism Press authors. Their new book is Conscious, Capable and Ready to Contribute: A Fable: How Employee Development Can Become the Highest Form of Social Contribution. AO People Partner’s mission is to inspire and support the conscious practice of people development in the workplace. AO’s team of experienced coaches and consultants bring business, leadership, and adult development expertise to help leaders and their organizations create the cultural conditions and sustainable practices that enable their people and their businesses to grow and flourish In this episode, we discuss Ed and Catherine writing a book together (7:06), the appeal to forming their partnership in 2017 (10:22), when Ed realized he wanted to become a coach (11:00), what it was like vacationing together before they formed a business partnership together (13:09), separating mind skills and people skills (15:15), if curiosity can be cultivated (18:52), what it looks like to reward curiosity and growth mindset in the workplace (21:12), how to embed these skills into levels where people are living paycheck to paycheck (29:46), how to help people in the organization figure out their direction (33:28), why so many people have decided to shift gears when it comes to their career of late (40:25), entitlement (44:49), employers helping employees grow in all walks of life (49:16), how organizations think about production and growth (54:36), transactions and transformations (58:42), where to start when developing people (1:04:31), what they do to make sure they’re at their best (1:10:14), and what allows partnerships to thrive and what can get in the way of that (1:13:39). Make sure to check out the AO People Partners website here! Additionally, you can follow Ed on Twitter and LinkedIn. I would also encourage you to follow Catherine on both Twitter and LinkedIn as well! Lastly, make sure to buy Ed and Catherine’s book Conscious, Capable, and Ready to Contribute anywhere you can buy books. Thank you so much to Ed and Catherine for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Managing Partner McChrystal Academy. David Livingston leads a team of subject matter experts, learning designers, and dynamic facilitators who develop and deliver custom learning courses and programs that leverage a variety of experiential learning methods to drive individual growth and higher performance for teams and organizations. In this episode, we discuss what David notices with regards to polarity when working with organizations (5:45), cultures of confrontation (7:23), leaders (10:04), how he balances wanting to be liked with having to make difficult decisions (12:32), balancing holding people accountable with knowing one’s roster is not very deep (15:56), why people struggle with paradox and instead like things to be neat (21:13), resilience (26:15), values (30:50), what led David to explore this field (33:43), where he starts when working with teams (35:39), how many teams have clarity on their purpose (36:32), what the military doesn’t do well that certain businesses do well (40:02), the relationship between the military and creativity (41:45), the importance of roles for high functioning teams in the corporate world (43:13), academia and application (45:03), religion and science (48:06), how he thinks about balancing tradition with his children and giving them space to make their own experiences (51:29), autonomy in organizations (54:45), what he does to make sure his own business is operating as its best self (58:23), flow state (1:04:30), organizational development in the future (1:09:08), and Jon Gruden (1:12:05). Make sure to check out The McChrystal Group website here and to see what David is up to on LinkedIn as well! Thank you so much to David for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Sean Magennis is the CEO of Capital 54, where he contributes 30 years of experience to entrepreneurs and growing professional service businesses, domestically and all throughout the world. He helps them with growth strategies, turnarounds, acquisitions, and financing. Sean supports the Capital 54 portfolio company CEOs, the investment resourcing, screening, and due diligence. He also is involved with all of their growth and exit processes. Prior to Capital 54, Sean led a global and diverse team, serving over 30,000 CEOs in 138 countries with combined annual revenues of 9 trillion US dollars. He was the president and COO of Young Presidents Organization (YPO). Prior to that, Sean began his business career in management at Dow Chemicals. He ran a professional services firm for 14 years focused on organizational development, consulting, people assessment, and executive search which grew to encompass operations in Canada, the US, and Mexico, where he and his team served several thousand clients. He has experience with real estate platforms, electricity infrastructure development, and financial services. Sean is also the past global president of Entrepreneurs Organization (EO). Today, he is still an active YPO member. In this episode, we discuss Sean’s roots in South Africa (6:16), the role of religion in his upbringing (8:49), his evolution in thinking about spirituality and religion over time, as well as his thoughts on racism and Apartheid (9:45), the intersection of being a team player and also an individual (17:17), how he thinks about challenging and supporting people as a mentor (21:01), why he values entrepreneurship (24:30), the skills that make a good entrepreneur (25:09), his mentoring process (26:19), how he uses his experiences to ask great questions (28:53), the keys to a great partnership (31:21), EO and YPO (33:40), where his curiosity came from (38:20), more on curiosity (42:53), the importance of gatherings (47:39), why he has always been part of the service industry (50:51), how he makes sure he’s doing well (54:58), what has driven the first chapters of his business career (59:22), Capital 54 (1:02:24), the difference between a chief of staff and an executive assistant (1:07:36), attention to detail (1:12:17), Make sure to check out Sean on LinkedIn as well! Thank you so much to Sean for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Marques Colston is in the record books with the New Orleans Saints for being on their all-time best wise receivers. He was recently inducted into their hall of fame, finishing his ten-year career atop the Saints reception list, their receiving yards list, their scrimmage yards list, and their receiving touchdowns list. During those ten years, he also helped lead them to a Super Bowl Championship. Marques was a 7th round pick when he entered the NFL. Prior to that, he only had 2 offers coming out of high school to play collegiate football, eventually going to Hofstra University. Today, Marques uses the skills and mindset he has developed over the years to serve as an executive coach. In this episode, we discuss Marques getting drafted by the Saints (5:16), what life was like for him as a kid (6:37), how his father’s passing impacted him as a high schooler (7:52), his siblings (10:24), raising his kids (11:48), his shared vision with his father (13:03), why he went to Hofstra instead of Missouri (15:03), balancing the ability to see into the future and also staying grounded and taking advantage of opportunities right in front of him (18:52), how his mindsets in preparation and performance differed (22:03), how he would let his body naturally perform on gameday (25:11), habits and routines that would help him get laser focused (27:41), being in New Orleans as they became a premier franchise (30:25), culture (35:05), the role of talent vs. the role of mindset (41:51), if there was a specific coach or player that helped develop him (44:53), being “The Quiet Storm” (47:30), what the Super Bowl was like for him (50:40), qualities associated with greatness on a regular basis (54:40), his decision to hang up the cleats after being released (57:38), his advice for athletes and the importance of getting educated in other things outside of football even while playing (59:56), what his vision for himself in 2026 was when he retired in 2016 vs. what it is now (1:05:54), You can check out Marques’s website here, and you can also check him out on all social media platforms @MarquesColston. Thank you so much to Marques for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

This episode of the podcast is a little bit different. This is the 250th podcast episode! We’re going to celebrate that milestone by talking about curiosity. Curiosity is what got me here, got me in front of this microphone, and forced me to hit the record button. I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Brad Stulberg is the bestselling author of The Practice of Groundedness and Peak Performance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, TIME Magazine, and many other outlets. In his coaching practice, he works with executives, entrepreneurs, and physicians on their mental skills and well-being. In this episode, we discuss handling cancellations (5:31), when Brad first became interested in coaching (6:50), the distinction between consulting and coaching (8:47), the mistakes he made when he first started coaching (9:44), how he thinks about age for himself (11:06), what makes him feel alive (13:29), scheduling (17:17), priorities (20:54), how he thinks about speaking (22:22), when he realized how much he valued autonomy (24:31), more on speaking gigs (27:37), what he’s learned going through mental health challenges (29:22), his wife’s reaction when he said he wanted to seek the help of a mental health professional (36:08), the line between healthy and harmful (39:10), cultivating tools (44:21), groundedness, religion, and spirituality (46:30), the most helpful thing he discovered when working on his book (49:50), how he would describe and define his own roots (51:46), life and love (53:23), wisdom and maximizing (54:34), how he helps to make sure the people he coaches are grounded (56:27), what his clients’ rationale is for working with him (1:00:01), stress + rest = growth and its connection to groundedness (1:01:52), and why he decided to write this book on his own and not with Steve (1:03:50). I encourage you to check out Brad on Twitter, as well as purchase his book The Practice of Groundedness and Peak Performance here! Thank you so much to Brad for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian