Blue Sky

Like most neuroscientists, until a little more than thirty years ago, Dr. Richard “Richie'' researched and studied things that go wrong with the brain.  But then, in 1992 he visited the Dalai Lama, who challenged him instead to work on understanding what happens to our brains when we practice kindness and compassion.  This conversation changed the trajectory of Richie’s life and career and he will share much of what he’s worked on and learned in the thirty-plus years since.  Among the topics covered in this conversation are the toxicity of distraction, neuroplasticity and our ability to reshape our brains, the value of gratitude and appreciation, and how simply being more aware of our surroundings can change our mindsets for the better.

One of the biggest complaints people have about their job is the lack of feedback they receive, both positive and negative.  Amy Sandler and the team Radical Candor believe in the power of “caring personally and challenging directly,” in valuing colleagues in a meaningful way and not being afraid to challenge them openly and honestly.  The Radical Candor company was founded following the success of Kim Scott’s eponymous bestseller and today holds seminars and workshops to train people in the lessons and behaviors she espouses. In this Blue Sky podcast, Amy explains how she came to this work and provides lessons and examples of how to put the principles of Radical Candor into practice.  Amy helps us understand how “ruinous empathy,” and “obnoxious aggression,” get in the way of constructive guidance at work. And as an added, if unrelated bonus, she also describes how, and why she has made it a practice to walk across hot coals seven times now.  

Charles Kenny brings to this episode a great depth of knowledge of progress being made around the world and supports his optimistic views with compelling statistics and anecdotes.  As he covers subjects ranging from disease eradication to life expectancy and the cost of basic necessities, Charles explains with infectious enthusiasm why we should take time to appreciate the remarkable progress we continue to make around the world.  Charles does not suggest we rest on our laurels but instead emphasizes that, “Because we can make the world better, there’s a moral imperative to make the world better.”

Virginia Gleason has spent her career working on improving law enforcement and public safety.  She comes to this work not out of a desire to put bad people behind bars or even simply to keep our streets safe, but rather as she says, “to impact the quality of people’s lives and reduce suffering.”  Virginia offers an optimistic take on the future of policing and public safety with an emphasis on improving the data collection and transparent dissemination of information related to police encounters with the community.  She also encourages the “democratization” of public safety, encouraging officers to get to know their constituents better – by engaging when times are good, not just when called to a scene – and for those of us who don’t work in law enforcement, to make efforts to understand their departments and the challenges they face.  Quoting her husband, a retired police officer, Virginia explains her belief that, “Everyone wants to be loved, everyone wants to be forgiven and everyone wants to be heard.  If you don’t know what else to do, fall back on those three things.”

After studying and working on public health issues, both in Lebanon and the United States, Teresa Chahine wanted to move from identifying and understanding societal problems to trying to fix them. While at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health she was exposed to the teaching of social entrepreneurship “across the river” at the university’s business school.  Inspired by the promise of this relatively new discipline, she created her own course on the subject at the Chan School and now has written a definitive textbook on the subject.  She is now inspiring students at the Yale School of Management with the promise of how effective social entrepreneurship can help improve our world.

Growing up in New York with a particular interest in “the dark side” of human nature, Oren Segal has channeled that curiosity into a career spent providing resources, expertise and training which enables law enforcement, public officials and internet and technology companies to identify and counter emerging threats.  Oren approaches this challenging work with intense dedication and an inspiring sense of hope and optimism. Learn More About Oren Segal and ADL: https://www.adl.org/  https://www.adl.org/about/regional-offices

Dominique Wright describes a childhood of “humble beginnings,” complete with a series of forced moves and an eviction.  But she says that the positive mindset instilled by her mom helped her persevere through these tough early years to graduate from the US Naval Academy and serve as an officer, earn a law degree, and work at the NFL Players Association and the league’s business and legal affairs department.  Today, Dominique is the founder and CEO of a technology marketing startup, serving college athletes pursuing name, image, and likeness opportunities.  She describes her current work as the toughest she’s ever done, but says that her optimistic outlook and grit will get her through.

The legendary Kevin Kelly shares his optimistic views on technology and our collective future.  As someone who was building online communities as early as the 1980’s and helped create Wired magazine in 1993, Kevin has seen it all, and his fascinating insights and predictions on subjects including social media and artificial intelligence are based on years of hands-on experience.  He and Bill also discuss some of their favorite excerpts from Kevin’s great new book, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier, which will be available on May 3.  As Seth Godin says, “One hundred years from now, when so much of the nonsense of our age is forgotten, people will still remember Kevin Kelly and his wisdom.”

Following his early years as a musician and chasing dreams of becoming “the next John Mayer,” Tim Schurrer went on to a successful career building teams and powerful brands.  We know that one of the most common barriers to an optimistic outlook is dissatisfaction at work and in this episode, Tim describes his realization that great things happen when we shift our focus from climbing the ladder to helping others be successful. 

John Valverde describes the impactful work of the organization he leads, YouthBuild USA, and also shares his own inspiring story of persevering through 16 years in prison to found two non-profits and now lead a third; YouthBuild USA.  John explains how he brings his own lived experience to his leadership role of an organization that helps young people at their own crossroads change the trajectory of their life. Learn More About John and YouthBuild USA: https://youthbuild.org/