Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Have you ever caught yourself wondering if you weren't supposed to be doing something different? Maybe you thought, "I know I'm not cut out for doing 'this,'" but at the same time "I don't know what a different 'this' might look like." Coach Andrea Barry has heard that observation before – many times before. After a long and successful career as a military officer, Andrea decided to help business leaders identify and overcome the obstacles standing in their way of living a new "this."

When we think of "project management," we probably think of plans, schedules, deliverables, resources, and dependencies among various functional departments. But in the following episode, senior project manager, Bob Prol explains how project management is a "people business." Projects succeed or fail based on the team members and their efforts. To help reinforce the human side of project management, Bob creates Haikus with wake-up call messages. Listen in as Bob weaves together p.m. principles and poetry.

In this episode of "Getting Unstuck," we'll hear from social activist Orville Morales. Orville is a community outreach and change specialist. We'll learn how he marshals community support for the causes he's undertaking – support that has different perspectives on the desired change and on the kind of support need to enact a change. We'll learn about the critical importance of education and its underlying data. Finally, we'll learn why it's necessary to be as specific as possible about the change itself.

Why do some complex changes stick, while others fail miserably – up to 70% according to the Gallop organization. How much of change failure is the lack of attention paid to planning, resources, and other technicalities of change, and how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of people leading or implementing the change? Listen in as marketing communications expert, Mark O'Brien – who has witnessed the good and the bad when it comes to change – gives his perspective.

How often as a leader do you find yourself worrying about what happened yesterday, or catastrophizing about all the things that could happen tomorrow? In this episode, the third in our series on mindfulness, we'll get insight into these questions and others with mindfulness teacher Oksana Esberard. Note: We'll also experience a bit of mindfulness by participating in a brief "whole brain" meditation session. Please join us for that when we get to that part of the episode – except if you're driving!

What does it mean to be "mindful"? How can you work toward being more mindful? How does the mindful leader behave, and what impact does he or she have on those with whom they work? We'll get answers to these questions and more in this interview with Michael Bunting. Michael is the author of a number of books, most notably The Mindful Leader. And, as a mindful consultant and trainer, Michael works around the world with organizations, helping them to transform their leadership and culture.

How often do you ask yourself "Who am I? Where am I going? How do I get there?" How do you gain personal awareness? How do you present yourself authentically to others? In this the first of three episodes on Mindfulness, we gain insight on those questions by exploring the concept of "contemplative practices" with educators Dr. Esmilda Abreu and Rhonda Schaller. We learn how those practices can lead to greater emotional intelligence, and offer important benefits to individuals and organizations.

How does your organization approach change? Where do ideas for change come from? How do you assess for change readiness? How do you develop and maintain a culture where change is seen as a vital part of the organization's focus? How do you hire the right talent for that culture? In this wide-ranging interview, we hear from Tom Parker how the highly respected not-for profit, Make-A-Wish America wrestles with these questions. Tom is currently serving as the organization's Director of Human Resources.

Cognitive distortions are self-limiting patterns of thinking that many of us demonstrate in life. These mental biases include "all or nothing thinking," "overgeneralizing," and "no control fallacy." Sound familiar? In this episode, we hear from Courtney Ackerman on how to identify and begin to manage these negative thought patterns. Courtney is the author of My Pocket Positivity, and a researcher and regular contributor to the Positive Psychology Program.

When have you ever been asked – or been forced – to move out of your comfort zone – the arena in which you've historically operated? What did you discover about yourself and your strength repertoire in the process? What lessons did you learn about life? In this episode, we meet Tom Dietzler who suddenly found himself engaged in two roles that were very different from the one he had heretofore performed.