Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Guest Lee Ellis is a nationally-recognized leadership coach, award-winning author, certified speaking professional* (CSP), a Vietnam Veteran and former POW, and USAF Colonel (Ret) | President, Leading with Honor Summary Some of the most interesting writing on leadership has come from active and former military personnel, but Lee Ellis has the added dimension of learning leadership lessons the hard way as a five and half year Prisoner of War in the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. Key Discussions √ How the POW experience influenced Lee's leadership abilities and practices. √ The importance of leaders showing vulnerability. √ The leader's role in establishing culture. √ The best leaders integrate a focus on results and on the people doing the work. √ Why adaptation is a critical leadership skill. √ Why it's important for a leader to cultivate a culture that fosters creativity and innovation. Links/references Leading with Honor website Leading with Honor book Engaging with Honor book

Guest Founder of "Cherish Your World," Laura Staley facilitates healthier connections to home, others, and self through decluttering, Feng Shui, and emotional intelligence. She's the author of Abundant Heart, Live Inspired, Let Go Courageously and Live with Love: Transform Your Life with Feng Shui, & the Cherish Your World Gift Book. Summary For good reasons and bad, we surround ourselves with things. In this episode, we look at how "things" occupy our space — not just in terms of the physical world in which we exist, but at how that physical space reflects what's going on in our head and heart. Key Discussions √ Our things aren't just things, they have stories attached to them. √ The three organizational styles. √ Decluttering the head, heart, and home — and seeing the relationship between the three. √ The two drivers of clutter. √ The importance of sharing your abundance with those who have lost everything. √ The relationship between decluttering and death. Links / References https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurastaley1/ https://www.facebook.com/laurastaleycherish https://www.instagram.com/cherishyourworld/channel/?hl=en

Guest In 2011, coach and author Jane Duncan Rogers was devastated when her husband died. However, six years later, with two books and a TedX talk to her credit, she now runs her not-for-profit, "Before I Go Solutions." Its mission is to create a world where people are at ease talking about and planning ahead for death. It helps accomplish this by providing products and programs so people can create a good end-of-life plan and benefit from the peace of mind this brings. Summary Generally speaking, our philosophy in the Western world is to ignore death and pretend that it's not going to happen. There's another way to look at things. Key Discussions √ Why and how Jane started her organization, "Before I Go Solutions" √ How she and her husband approached his impending death and why it produced a sense of relief and comfort √ Why death planning is really an act of love √ What questions we need to ask when planning for our death √ How and why we should approach "death cleansing" √ Why it's critical to manage "secret papers" √ The obstacles people put in front of themselves before engaging in death planning √ The elephant in the room √ The options to burial √ What to say to someone grieving Referenced Social media Website TEDx Talk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beforeigosolutions/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/giftedbygrief Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeduncanrogers/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeduncanrogers/ Books: Before I Go Gifted by Grief The Comfort Crisis

Guests Jeff Carver is an English teacher who has been working in New Orleans charter schools for the last nine years. Before teaching, he spent the good part of a decade working in music and advertising. Nia DeCoux is a writer, educator, and activist who believes that when done well, storytelling and teaching become the same practice. Her work has been honored by both the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the National Black Arts Festival. Summary While many educators continue to follow the standard 150-year-old approach to instruction and learning, and others are leaving the profession for various reasons, many teachers are helping to ignite their students' inherent curiosity. Key Discussions √ Desired learner outcomes for tested and non-tested courses √ How student performance against the mission is measured √ The importance of place-based and project-based learning √ How kids and parents adapt to the unique New Harmony environment √ Why Jeff and Nia became teachers, and how their teaching changed over time √ How to introduce students to the idea of voice and choice √ How to help teachers experiment with allowing students' curiosity Social media/References website: www.newharmonyhigh.org Rising by Elizabeth Rush

Guest —John Dietsch is an award-winning author and writer/producer best known for supervising the fly fishing scenes and doubling for Brad Pitt in the classic OSCAR-winning film A River Runs Through It. John's latest book, Graced by Waters, explores our connection to the outdoors through the prism of fly fishing and investigates its transformative and healing power in the face of loss. John currently teaches English literature, guides fly fishing, and facilitates wellness river retreats when he is not writing (or fishing) from his home in Pacific Palisades, California. Summary — Water is the most common physical property found on Earth, but its spiritual properties — its ability to soothe our souls, nurture us, and facilitate deep personal reflection — are just as important. John Dietsch, fly fisher, guide, film producer, author, and teacher, helps us wade into it. Key Discussions √ John's calling and its relationship to water. √ Focus on the process vs. the result. √ The spiritual qualities and connection to water, and why being in water for the fly fisherman is as important as catching fish. √ The purpose of faith. √ The importance of making mistakes. √ The two types of fly fishermen and how those types apply to life. √ John's role on A River Runs Through It and the iconic fly fishing scene at the film's end. √ How the film and the film's metaphor parallel events in John's life. And how the film helped him work through his own pain from the loss of his brothers. √ How serendipity/synchronicity can play a role in our lives if we're observant. Social Media/References John Dietsch 3104159232 John@castlecreekproductions.com Johndietsch.com Retreats https://fishforwellness.org Media https://www.facebook.com/john.dietsch.332/ https://www.instagram.com/dietschjohn/ Graced by Waters book Good Night Oppy The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter Home Waters by John Maclean

Guest — Rhonda Broussard is an author, entrepreneur, and futurist. One Good Question: How Countries Prepare Youth to Lead is her first book. Broussard is an award-winning education entrepreneur and sought-after public speaker. She is the founder and CEO of Beloved Community, a national nonprofit committed to sustainable economic equity in schools, the workforce, and housing. She is a 28-year educator and researcher who founded and led a network of language immersion and international schools in the US. Broussard studied education in Cameroon, Martinique, metropolitan France, Finland, and New Zealand. Her essays have been featured in The Future of University, North American Edition; Building Bridges, One Leader at a Time; This I Believe, Personal Essays by the Women and Men of Eisenhower Fellowships; IB World magazine, and Forbes Magazine. Summary — In this episode, we touch on various reasons for our K-12 system of schooling. Is it to prepare students for a career, acquire knowledge and skills, or develop creative thinking and problem solver abilities? And what about student agency? How much voice and choice in determining what and how students want to learn should we allow? Key Discussions √ How allowing educators more time to wonder will pay dividends in terms of improved instruction. √ Why there is an inherent tension between giving educators time to wonder and the urgency to reform. √ What the role of schooling is. √ How the world of work and the expectations of a career have changed over time. √ How we can, on the one hand, respect and believe in greater student agency while reducing our tendency to limit it because it means a loss of our traditional authority. √ How global educators are grappling with the same question and coming up with different answers. Links / References For more information, visit rhondabroussard.com. IG: @RhondaBroussard_Author Twitter: @BroussardRhonda The Reluctant Creative by Dr. Caroline Brookfield Getting Unstuck Interview with Biology teacher, Nate Hassman Getting Unstuck Interview with Tennessee high school educators Getting Unstuck Interview with Michele Chen

Guest Dr. Nate Zinsser is an expert in the psychology of human performance who consults with individuals and organizations seeking a competitive edge. He has been at the forefront of applied sport psychology for over thirty years. From 1992 to 2022 Dr Zinsser directed a cutting-edge applied sport psychology program at the United States Military Academy's Center for Enhanced Performance. He is the author of The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance. Summary Confidence is a state of mind achieved through training, choosing to focus on select experiences, and the ability to tell oneself a story based on a belief in a positive future. Key Discussions √ What are the Rosenthal or the Pygmalion effects, and how do they speak to performance? √ What is confidence? √ How does confidence apply to non-athlete and non-military leaders? √ What is the three-part process of becoming a confident leader? √ How does choice become a factor in building confidence? √ How important is it to read non-verbal communication? √ How do resilience and an "anti-fragile" mentality relate to confidence? √ Why do negative self-doubting thoughts keep popping into our heads? Links / References website The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance Leading With Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton by Colonel Lee Ellis

Summary — Award-winning food and travel writer Sylvie Bigar found herself in 2008 "writing more about food than travel and had turned into a stroller-pushing Upper West Side Mama." Needing to "escape," as she admitted, "she decided to head to France to research cassoulet, that "slow-cooked carnivorous orgy of pork, lamb, duck, beans, and herbs stewed together in an earthenware tureen." A quick, fun story, she thought. "I couldn't have been more wrong," she discovered. Guest — Sylvie Bigar was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and lives in New York City. Her writing has appeared widely, including in The New York Times, Washington Post, Food & Wine, Forbes.com, Saveur, Bon Appetit, Edible, Departures, Travel & Leisure, and National Geographic Traveler. Sylvie co-authored chef Daniel Boulud's definitive Daniel: My French Cuisine, Living Art: Style Your Home with Flowers with floral artist and designer Olivier Giugni, and the recently published Cassoulet Confessions: Food. France, Family and the Stew That Saved My Soul. Takeaways √ Where, what, and when people eat gives you a sense of their culture. √ Cassoulet is a bean-based stew with duck confit, sausage, pork, vegetables, and various herbs. √ Sylvie's investigation of the complex story of cassoulet — its history, ingredients, method of cooking, and the region where it originated — became a metaphor for her investigation into her personal history. Links / ReferencesOnline socialwww.sbigar.com @sylviebigar Book Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family and the Stew that Saved My Soul Articles Wall Street Journal New York Times "Front Burner" New York Post Food & Wine

Guest Bill Whiteside is a sales and marketing executive turned software salesman turned writer of narrative non-fiction, specifically a forthcoming book about an incident in Winston Churchill's tenure as Britain's Prime Minister during World War II. Summary In this episode of "Getting Unstuck—Cultivating Curiosity," I talk with Bill about the process of writing, which he's detailed in a new book, Everybody Knows a Salesman Can't Write a Book. As Bill has written, "My book is for anyone who dreams of turning a creative idea into commercial reality, especially anyone who wonders how to manage the intellectual and the business challenges of writing a book while working a "traditional" job. Takeaways √ Bill's forthcoming book is a story about Winston Churchill and a deadly incident in the early days of World War II of which most people are not aware; a clash between the British and French who up to the time of the incident had been allies. √ The book is an intersection of "how to write," the content of the incident between Britain and France, and a memoir of Bill's life during a specific period. √ One of the key questions an aspiring writer has to ask themselves is "Do I have a deep enough passion for this topic to sustain me over a long period of time?" √ In addition to passion, to motivate your readers, it's important to have a sense that you can bring something different to your account of the story, especially with nonfiction. √ One of the challenges of writing is deciding what to leave in, what to leave out. √ There's always a reason not to do something. And most people find that reason and embrace that reason not to do something And it's the people who ignore that and say, I'm going to find the reasons to do something for the people who break through who are successful. Links/References Website: www.perfectlytruestory.com Sign up for Bill's monthly newsletter: https://www.perfectlytruestory.com/background-and-newsletter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-whiteside-lancaster-pa/ Twitter: @PerfAdequate Email: bill.whiteside@perfectlytruestory.com

Summary Reflecting on past decisions, actions, and accomplishments can be a springboard to future action or a recurring regret for what we didn't do, impacting our ability to focus on the present. Takeaways √ Western society has slowly eliminated or reduced physical challenges to find food, build and take shelter, flee from predators, and avoid overly risky decisions. But that has resulted in us being more out of shape, overweight, anxious, burned out, materially focused, and generally more physically and mentally unhealthy than our predecessors. √ We attempt to increase our happiness or dampen our dispirited selves through acquiring material possessions, increased wealth, sugar and salt-laden ultra-processed foods, and alcohol and other drugs. √ Our view of death exacerbates our ability to focus productively on the present. References The Comfort Crisis