Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

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 of the importance of self-reflection becomes a light she shines into teams to help improve their performance.

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 serve a higher purpose, but it was muted. She unleashed it by asking herself the question "Where am I hiding?"

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 happening and how a different approach just might yield the results we want.

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 discussion around a change initiative we're facilitating for a client where we are putting ideas into practice.

"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 done before didn't mean it can't be done. One Giant Leap author Charles Fishman explains.

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 impacting driving the next. One educator, Dr. Deb Gustafson, wondered if it would work in her school.

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 Charisma. Interestingly, many of the qualities are the same ones that we would like to see in our leaders.