The Leadership Mind

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Mike, a men's transformation coach, founder of the Living Fearless coaching programs, and host of the Living Fearless Today podcast. His decades of experience with overcoming failures, setbacks, and struggles, fuels his clients to overcome their own self-doubt. With his personal journey through overcoming childhood trauma, dyslexia and loss of loved ones, Mike is determined to set the example to not allow excuses to derail you. His podcast, Living Fearless Today, focuses on helping men overcome fear, anxiety and depression by highlighting success stories of those who have lived through it. His insights, methods, and stories of building Post Traumatic Growth have been featured on various podcasts, including Hanging Onto Hope, Extreme Health and April Garcia's PivotMe. Highlights from today's podcast include: How to handle the “I am not enough” thoughts The specific steps he took to gain courage and overcome his fears How his dyslexia diagnosis impacted him and his family How to play into your own strengths Connect with Mike: Instagram Facebook Website

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Tim, a consultant at RAC Leadership that specializes in leadership assessment and development, especially within large multi-national organizations. Leveraging his experiences with different leadership challenges and successes, he has become a valued contributor at RAC while offering insight on assessment, coaching, and client relations. Tim has a specific passion for working with high potential candidates as they form and articulate their leadership styles. Tim holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Development and Change from Fielding Graduate University, and has completed all coursework as a Doctoral candidate, expecting to complete his Ph.D. in early 2022. Highlights from today's podcast include: Explanation of the social identity theory Why people fail in the manager role How people behave and think about themselves determines how successful they will be The conflict of diversity and inclusion trainings How to relate to people who are different than to you to ensure they feel included Connect with Tim: Linkedin

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Greg, a 25 year self-proclaimed "healthcare nerd" who has spent a career making healthcare more impactful for the patient. Recent experience includes helping launch the telemedicine provider Doctor on Demand and he is currently the head of strategy and growth for Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Greg has also recently launched a new company, Rhythm Design, in order to help companies transform and innovate better from within and he is in the process of writing a book that is a collection of stories and lessons learned along his 25 year career. Greg is a Native Texan and lives in Dallas with his wife of 23 years and 2 of his three children (the other is a freshman at Texas A&M). Highlights from today's podcast include: The best ideas often come from the quietest voice in the room Leadership lessons from early in his career that have shaped his philosophy The simple power of following through on small things Looking at challenges as opportunities to grow instead of tests to pass How to say ‘no’ more often The fallacy of certainty in leadership Critical failure when executive sponsorship and alignment are not ensured from beginning to end of project Connect with Greg: Website www.rhythm.design

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Valarie, the Founder and CEO of Valiant Coaching.  Her coaching practice includes supporting chief counsels, university deans, as well as senior technology leaders in the  hi-tech industry.  Valarie seeks to empower her clients to be both resilient and confident, helping them to develop leadership and communication skills that build high performing diverse teams that are deliberately inclusive.   Prior to starting Valiant Coaching, Valarie held VP positions at Marriott International, S&P Global, Slalom Build and leadership roles at Cisco Systems, Dell EMC and AT&T Bell Labs.  She has managed projects ranging from the development of Marriott’s Bonvoy mobile application to Cisco Systems’ use of machine translation to deliver multilingual support sites. Valarie holds a Masters in Mechanical & Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelors from Carnegie Mellon University.  She serves on a number of advisory boards that focus on the empowerment of young women and people of color; Girl Scouts, Nerdy Girl Success and TY-Education.  She is gleefully married for 35 years and the mother of two amazing women; an attorney and UX designer. Highlights from today's podcast include: Her experience being the first African American female to graduate in metallurgical and mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University Where her drive came from to keep going when she could have given up and what it means to be resilient  The challenge in accepting compliments and the impact that has on owning one's role as a leader The missteps in diversity and inclusion efforts where we undermine the unique needs of each group. How people can define success and be proactive about their career Valarie’s mission for her coaching company and how she supports minorities Connect with Valarie: Website www.valariegilbert.com Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/valariegilbert/

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Chris Sallquist, an artist and consultant based in Seattle, Washington. His professional experience spans over 25 years in professional services leading teams and businesses, with a focus on curating ideas and experiences that connect people to themselves, others, and the universe. Highlights from today's podcast include: The importance of the maxim, "Know thy self," and how to understand your values and what is meaningful to you allows you to live a full life. When defined by external validation, success can lead to a miss alignment of values and take you off the course of a purpose-driven life. We talked about how Non-Violent Communication was a turning point for Chris and his relationships with himself and other people. Connect with Chris Sallquist: Website Instagram: @csallquist

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Loree Draude, an ICF-certified executive coach, leadership consultant and professional speaker. She is the host of the Supersonic Leaders & Teams podcast, in which she interviews inspirational leaders. Loree has spent the past twenty years in Silicon Valley, most recently leading a team of content designers at Facebook. Prior to Facebook, she led the online advertisers communities and social media business support teams at Google, where she facilitated training and coaching for diversity efforts focused on women, veterans and underrepresented Googlers. Prior to joining Google, she co-founded a mobile app company, created leadership video case studies for Stanford's Graduate School of Business and led marketing at PayNearMe and Military.com. Previously, she was a management consultant for Bain & Company. Prior to her business career, Loree served in the US Navy for 10 years and left active duty as a Lieutenant Commander. She was one of the first female aviators to fly in a combat jet squadron in the Navy. Loree completed two deployments to the Persian Gulf and a tour as an instructor pilot, accumulating over 1600 flight hours and 300 carrier landings. She wrote about her experiences flying the F/A-18 Hornet and the S-3B Viking in the book She's Just Another Navy Pilot. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of San Diego and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives with her two teenagers and two cats in the San Francisco Bay Area. Highlights from today's podcast include: Her career as one of the first female Navy pilots to fly combat missions and the thrill of launching off an aircraft carrier. Her passion for creativity and inspiring others led her to write and perform in a one-women show off-broadway. The relationship fear plays in limiting our ability to innovate, create change, and reach from what we really want to achieve. Connect with Loree Draude: Website LinkedIn Facebook

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Adam Piandes, the founder of The Art of Masterful Communication, a leadership coach and mentor, consultant, and Forbes columnist, as well as an avid surfer, world traveler, and huge fan and supporter of the Girls Athletic Leadership School. As a former collegiate athlete, outwardly thriving in high pressure athletic environments came easy, while managing his emotions and internal life didn’t. After leaning on unhealthy coping mechanisms through much of his adult life, Adam was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2015, which helped him learn how to slow down and start harnessing his sensitivity in a useful way. In combination with 25+ years of teaching, coaching, and personal development, a masters degree in Spiritual Psychology, training from the Coaches Training Institute, and seeing the impact of effective communication in his own life, he developed The Art Of Masterful Communication and his unique leadership methodology. Ever since, he has guided students in 70+ countries, across a variety of industries, into the most effective communication skills that have brought consistent measurable results to both their business and personal lives. Highlights from today's podcast include: The power of connection and community during rudderless times What happened for Adam when he made the shift from viewing his cancer as something he has, to some he has been diagnosed with. How leadership starts by taking ownership for our own stories, emotions, needs, and actions Why vulnerability is a precursor to true curiosity, as curiosity is an inherently vulnerable act. How finally listening to his truth led Adam to live more aligned to his values, with greater integrity, and build a successful purpose-driven company. And we both went deep on the universal power of self-compassion as the bridge our internal leadership to that of leadership in our relationships and organizations. Connect with Adam Piandes: Website @adampiandes

In this solo podcast episode, host Massimo Backus gets vulnerable to share more about himself and his story with the audience. Get to know him better in this episode and how we got to where he is today. He opens up about: His fundamental philosophy of surrender and abundance How he overcame his struggle with dyslexia How being a college drop out led him to find his passion How he was humbled in the L&D world and how he came to realize that he sucked as a manager How he coaches others today Connect with Massimo: Website LinkedIn

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Alex Yates, a high-energy, high-impact neuroscience-infused business leader bringing inspirational approaches for transformational work with over 25 years of experience --which means he graduated college before he sent his first email #GenX. He's grew up in San Diego where he started his career doing market research for a top 40 radio station, sales training for the San Diego Padres, recruiting for a University, moved to Chicago and re-invented himself as the Marketing Mad Man, before roles in leadership consulting for Humana, change management for Kraft Foods, and now leads work around Change Agility for organizational transformations. A lifelong learner with a creative approach to most everything, Alex is the king of metaphors & analogies who applies 21st century research of neuroscience and human-centered design to shift mindsets to help people choose the change. Alex moved from sunny San Diego to seasonal Chicago in the middle of a January snowstorm, so he’s personally experienced transformational change. He happily lives in Chicago with his Instagram-influencer wife and two kids where Alex has been voted “Dad of the Year” for 9 consecutive years, in his household. Highlights from today's podcast include: How Alex's chance encounter with a classmate introduced him to public speaking and discovering his gifts in persuasion and debate. The power of 'Name it, to tame it" when communicating in emails and chat to let the person know that you want to talk and the why behind it. The 5 types of evidence for persuasion and communicating effectively. Why the TED Talk cap is 18 minutes in duration The power of TikTok for microlearning beyond trendy dance moves. How research shows that we learn far more effectively by sharing our struggles than we do our successes. Connect with Alex Yates: Twitter LinkedIn

In today's episode, Massimo is joined by Sarah Cannistra, an L&D Career and Executive Coach, and founder of The Overnight Trainer, specializing in helping aspiring and existing L&D professionals create and built the L&D career of their dreams. Since beginning her career in L&D over a decade ago, Sarah has created hundreds of learning and development programs for over 5,000 learners, led the learning function for 4 different organizations, and hired and trained dozens of L&D professionals. She now uses what she has learned in her career to develop the L&D careers of others. Highlights from today's podcast include: How a bounced rent check led to a dream career. The challenges with equitability and access to higher education and how work experience surpasses the value of formal education. The importance of knowing your "why" and applying it to work of service. The gift in saying no to things that don't energize you, even if you are good at them. How understanding your strengths can guide your work and inform career decisions. Connect with Sarah Cannistra: Website Podcast LinkedIn