

The Being Human Podcast with Richard Atherton
Richard Atherton
Being Human is for people who want go deep on what it means to be a human making a difference. We’ll discover how to be better humans at work and in life. We’ll explore leadership, relationships and how to make changes in ourselves and our environments. Nothing will be off limits. Welcome.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 10, 2019 • 47min
#81 Psychological Safety at Work - with Amy C. Edmondson
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In this episode, I talk with Harvard Leadership Professor Amy C. Edmondson. She's the author of The Fearless Organisation and world-renowned for her pioneering work on the link between psychological safety and team performance.
I’m delighted that I got to speak with Amy. She is, undoubtedly, one of the management thinkers today having the greatest impact on the workplace culture conversation.
We talk:
- How she first discovered the link between performance and psychological safety
- The parallels between psychological safety and free speech
- Why psychological safety doesn't happen easily and must be cultivated
- The recent furore of Google firing James Damore for sharing his views
- Where to start with building psychological safety in your teams
Links:
The Fearless Organization: https://amzn.to/2nxF3lO

Oct 3, 2019 • 51min
#80 The Human Business Paradigm - with Dr. Thomas Juli
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Free climber, tango marathon dancer, Davos regular, Dr. Thomas Juli is also an author and a Human Business Architect. Previous guest, Peter Stevens introduced me to Dr. Juli as someone shaking up business thinking. I'm delighted that he did! We talk:
- How the 'Human Business Paradigm' is upending our workplace sacred cows
- His move from being a Programme Manager to rejecting traditional planning
- Why delighting each other may become the new mission for Business
- Why our planning questions matter
- How mindfulness doesn't have to involve cushions
Enjoy!
Links:
Dr. Juli's consulting business: motivate2b.com
Dr. Juli's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-thomas-juli-799338/

Sep 26, 2019 • 1h 21min
#79 Planning for Everything - with Peter Morville
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In this episode, I talk with Peter Morville. I first got to know Peter's work through his 2014 book Intertwingled, which beautifully illustrated the complexity of our world and how we shape the information around us as it shapes us. In this episode, we explore his latest book 'Planning for Everything' in which he makes the case that we should be consciously designing how we plan depending on our context.
We talk:
- His STARFINDER framework for planning
- His dream for Sentient Sanctuary, a place for healing for animals and people
- How his voluntary work has shaped in thinking
- His plan for Part 3 of his life
- How he was inspired General McChrystal's approach for defeating the Taliban
Enjoy!
Links:
https://intertwingled.org/
https://semanticstudios.com/

Sep 19, 2019 • 48min
#78 Personal Agility - with Peter Stevens
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In this episode, I talk with Peter Stevens. In 2016, in experimenting with his wife, Peter created the Personal Agility system for applying Agile principles to manage his personal life. It worked. He since taking his concept around the world with workshops, Meet Ups and a forthcoming book.
We talk:
- The genesis of the Personal Agility system
- His wife's role as Celebration Coach
- The powerful questions that help him achieve what's important
- How the system has changed people's lives
- Why this approach should be at the heart of all Agile Transformations
Enjoy!
Links:
Join the PAS community at the Personal Agility Institute: https://personalagilityinstitute.org/
Get Personal Agility: Unlocking Purpose, Alignment, and Transformation Amazon in Kindle or Paperback formats https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHWM9VKK
Enter promo code 'beinghuman' for an Autographed Copy of Personal Agility (https://saat-network.ch/ebk) or Ten Agile Contracts (https://tencontracts.org/)

Sep 13, 2019 • 47min
#77 The Future of Work - with Neil Miller
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In this episode, I speak with fellow podcaster and writer on the future of work, Neil Miller. In a broad-ranging and provocative discussion, we talk:
- The new skills and attitude of a human leader
- How to get a grip of our work lives to make time to be creative
- Neil's take on a legacy of white supremacy in the workplace
- How AI and automation will and will not take our jobs
Enjoy!
Links:
https://workminus.com/

Sep 5, 2019 • 43min
#76 The Belonging Factor - with Devin Halliday
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In this episode of Being Human, I talk with Devin Halliday, perhaps the world's first Chief Belonging Architect.
Devin was an award-winning sales leader at a major tech firm before founding Rudiment Solutions, a company dedicated to helping organisations to build belonging. Devin has some powerful messages for those looking to develop culture and get the most from their people.
We talk:
- His early struggles in making the shift from salesman to sales leader
- The critical importance of self-analysis for managers
- How to really build values alignment and it has nothing to do with posters
- Why he believes that cognitive diversity is the most important form of diversity
- The 5 factors for belonging
Enjoy!
Links:
http://belongingfactor.com
http://beinghuman.belongingfactor.com - for your free signed copy of the book

Aug 29, 2019 • 60min
#75 Serve to Lead - with Louis J Fernandez
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In this episode of Being Human, I speak with former US Army paratrooper and Afghanistan veteran Louis Fernandez.
The son of Cuban refugees, Louis was determined to fight for his country and signed up to the elite Army Rangers straight after college. His 'big mouth' got him in some trouble at Ranger School, but he came through to ultimately become part of the force fighting the Taliban in Eastern Afghanistan.
Louis' passion for excellent leadership oozes through every minute of this interview and the story of a fire-fight within a year of his first deployment had me gripped.
We talk:
- How empowered leadership helped a unit of 100 men win against 300 Taliban
- The importance of 1-2-1 conversations for leaders
- What he means by servant leadership
- How leadership training must transform
- How to deal with toxic employees
Enjoy!
Links:
https://louisjfernandez.com/

Aug 23, 2019 • 53min
#74 Live from Your Heart and Mind - with Catherine B. Roy
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In this episode of Being Human, I speak with Catherine B Roy. Catherine is a Top 20 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on the Future of Work. She's the author of "Live from Your Heart and Mind".
We talk:
- Surviving war and disease in the former Yugoslavia
- Healing from a dysfunctional family
- The power of gratitude for achieving your goals
- Her method for intellectual development
- The importance of laughter
Links:
https://catherinebroy.com/

Aug 15, 2019 • 58min
#73 The Simplicity Cycle - with Dan Ward
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In this week's episode, I talk with Dan Ward, a former military technologist, author and expert on innovation. With Dan, I explore:
- How applying his principles, teams can deliver at a tenth or even a one hundredth of the price
- Why spending 10 years in planning could actually be Agile
- The brain mechanisms that make trust a winning leadership strategy
- Why restraint should be your overarching principle for product delivery
- Why his principles don't scale and yet deliver mega-projects
Enjoy!
Dan's website: https://www.thedanward.com/
Mitre Innovator's Development Toolkit developed by Dan and this colleagues: https://itk.mitre.org/
Dan's first book F.I.R.E.: https://tinyurl.com/y5oxf4lk
Dan's latest book The Simplicity Cycle: https://tinyurl.com/yxknty79

Aug 8, 2019 • 59min
#72 To Manage Products is to Care - with Roman Pichler
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In this week's episode, I talk with Roman Pichler, a leading expert in Product Management. With Roman, I explore:
- His preference for the term 'Product People' over getting hung up on role descriptions
- Why caring for others is at the heart of product management
- The importance of adapting leadership style for different contexts
- The lessons he learnt failing with an e-learning product
- Why mindfulness and meditation are at the core of his approach
Enjoy!
https://www.romanpichler.com/
Roman's book 'Strategize': http://tiny.cc/bcvw9y


