Finding Brave

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “The problem is when we’re wishing that a situation or another person would change, and the reality is that they’re not going to, we can wish until the cows come home and it’s not going to make a single iota of difference.” - Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler Every single person experiences conflict with others at certain points in his or her life, and although it isn’t entirely avoidable, it is possible to free oneself from recurring conflict. Today’s Finding Brave guest reveals how we can start to do this, even without the cooperation of the other party, by sharing what do when it seems like all previous efforts to resolve the conflict have failed. Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler is founder and CEO of Alignment Strategies Group, the premier New York-based consulting firm that counsels CEOs and their executive teams on how to optimize organizational health and growth. Author of the new book Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life, she is a keynote speaker at Fortune 500 companies, public institutions and innovative, fast-growing startups, where she inspires audiences of all kinds, including those at Google, Harvard and TEDx, and in her popular course at Columbia. A former counterterrorism research fellow with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, she is a graduate of Tufts University and holds a Ph.D. in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. In order to free yourself from recurring conflict, you have to break the pattern of the conflict loop by doing something different from what you’ve been doing in the past. The actionable strategies Jennifer presents during the conversation, as well as in her new book, will help people in all different situations at work and home free themselves from conflict and achieve the optimal outcomes that they desire. To learn more about today's guest, visit: http://alignmentstrategiesgroup.com/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “It’s relationships, right? How do we build relationships with prospective employees, with the media, with our prospective business owners? A lot of it starts with understanding your narrative, and the story you’re telling.” - Shama Hyder In today’s business world, your reputation precedes you, and 60% of B2B (business to business) prospects have already made a decision before they reach out to your company. If you are applying for a job, your employer has already formed an impression based on your resume and your social profiles, so the question is how do you put your best foot forward? Today’s Finding Brave guest is a true expert in marketing and someone who truly understands the importance of building relationships, which is what she shares with us today. Shama Hyder has built her business from a scrappy startup to an industry-leading agency, distinguished herself as an international marketing luminary, delivered keynotes to packed houses in more than 20 countries, and written a couple of bestselling books while she was at it. But it’s her nose for innovation that makes her the figure that CMOs seek out in droves to build their brand’s reputation, increase their market share, and deliver bottom-line results. As the acclaimed author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing, now in its 4th edition and Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age, Shama has supported the growth of many of the most recognized brands. As a result of her success, Shama has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Technology Titan Emerging Company CEO award. She was named one of the “Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25” by Business Week in 2009, one of the “Top 30 Under 30” Entrepreneurs in America by Inc. Magazine, and to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list of movers and shakers. LinkedIn has named Shama as one of their “Top Voices” in Marketing & Social Media for four years running. Her online videos were awarded the “Hermes Gold award for Educational Programming in Electronic Media,” and most recently, she was honored with the “Global Empowerment award for Marketing and Technology” by Anokhi Media. In this episode, Shama reveals how every business problem is at its core a relationship problem, and how to address that problem. Brands will matter more than ever in 2020 and beyond, and it’s only by building effective relationships that companies will truly succeed. Learn more at: http://shamahyder.com/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “You really need to make sure that toxicity is absolutely caught before it spreads, because it is very costly to the company, and the lives of the people.” - Frank Wander In this new era of work people count more than ever, and what they are able to collectively produce means everything. Everyone is responsible to help create workplaces where people are both inspired and enabled to give their best. This includes knowing how to handle toxic people and situations, which is what our Finding Brave guest focuses on in this episode. Frank Wander is an author, former Fortune 250 turnaround CIO, and founder of PeopleProductive, a Human Capital Productivity company. Prior to PeopleProductive, he was a turnaround CIO at three different companies, most recently Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, as well as the President of GroupIntelligence.com during the .com era. Early on, he developed a knack for transforming organizations and spent many years turning around failing IT divisions across corporations. Frank is a Board member of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company, and a member of Rider University’s HR Curriculum Committee. He is also the author Transforming IT Culture, published as part of Wiley’s CIO series. Caring and concern for others is the force that binds humans together, as the basis of all relationships and fundamental to personal and collective success. Human skills and competencies are no longer just “soft” concepts that leadership talks about in passing, which is why I believe that everyone can benefit from the wisdom that Frank shares with us today. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://www.peopleproductive.com/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “The main takeaway for me would be that we need to weave a discussion about contribution into more and more conversations, because it’s a way to repair the broken relationship between people and the work that they do today.” - Tom Rath When today’s Finding Brave guest was 16 years old, he learned he had a rare and catastrophic genetic mutation, one that would lead to cancers in multiple organs. After living for more than 25 years since his diagnosis—three years longer than doctors predicted—he has not only beaten the odds but has learned that time is more valuable when you can see your mortality on the horizon. His inspiring messages for listeners today focus on the impact of contribution, not only for others, but for yourself as well. Tom Rath is a renowned, bestselling author and researcher who has spent the past two decades studying how work can improve human health and well-being. His 10 books have sold more than 10 million copies and made hundreds of appearances on global bestseller lists. Tom’s first book, How Full Is Your Bucket? was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and led to a series of books and activities for kids that are used in classrooms around the world. His book StrengthsFinder 2.0 is Amazon’s top selling non-fiction book of all time. His other bestsellers include Strengths Based Leadership, Wellbeing, Eat Move Sleep, and Are You Fully Charged? In Tom’s latest book, LIFE’S GREAT QUESTION: Discover How You Contribute to the World, Tom shares the details of his personal story, explores what makes life worthwhile, and offers actionable advice on how to create meaning by focusing on what you can contribute to others. During his 13 years at Gallup, Tom was the Program Leader for the development of Clifton StrengthsFinder, which has helped over 10 million people to uncover their talents, and went on to lead the organization’s employee engagement, well-being, and leadership practices worldwide. Tom has served for the past five years as a Gallup Senior Scientist. He also served as Vice-Chair of the VHL cancer research organization and has been a regular lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. I find Tom’s writings so rich, and every single word he writes contains a universe of messages within them. I know you’ll get as much value from this episode as I did in speaking with him. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://www.tomrath.org/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “People were putting time against the things that didn’t really matter most to them, and they would then not have the energy for the things that did. I thought I could create a system and a process for people to ensure that they can align what matters most to them in their lives with where they spent their energy.” - Molly Fletcher In the face of 24/7 pressure, how do we reset ourselves to achieve our best and most fulfilling life? How do we make the most of our 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, 52 weeks a year? Today’s Finding Brave guest has constructed a creative solution that will empower each of us to do this in a doable, constructive way. It is a game-changing approach to giving more of yourself to what’s most important, and wasting less of your precious time and resources on what’s not. In her message to audiences around the world, Molly Fletcher shares the unconventional techniques she used to thrive in her former career as a top sports agent and now as a successful entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author. Hailed as “the female Jerry Maguire,” Molly negotiated over $500 million in contracts and represented hundreds of sports’ biggest stars. She’s the founder of Game Changer Negotiation Training and the host of the Game Changers with Molly Fletcher podcast. She’s the author of five books, and her latest book, The Energy Clock is available in bookstores everywhere now. Everyone will make mistakes in life, but as Molly reveals, it’s important that we remember to be gentle with ourselves and slow down to listen to what our true priorities in life really are. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://mollyfletcher.com/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “It all goes back to empathy. Know who you’re talking to, know how they process information, and really think through what you’re asking of them and how they’re going to feel about it.” - Nancy Duarte What if you sliced data and found a huge problem or opportunity? Data did its job, but now it needs a storyteller. How insights are communicated could reverse or increase the trajectory of data, and the actions you ask others to take today changes your future data. In this episode our Finding Brave guest shares how getting others to move forward with those actions only happens when someone communicates well. Nancy Duarte is a communication expert who has been featured in Fortune, Time Magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, Wired, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and on CNN and beyond. Her firm, Duarte, Inc., is the global leader behind some of the most influential visual messages in business and culture, and has created more than a quarter of a million presentations. As a persuasion expert, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications and is also a Harvard Business Review contributor. She’s written six best-selling books and four have won awards. Duarte, Inc., is the largest design firm in Silicon Valley, as well as one of the top woman-owned businesses in the area. Nancy has won several prestigious awards for communications, entrepreneurship, and her success as a female executive. She has been a speaker at a number of Fortune 500 companies, and counts many more among her firm’s clientele. Nancy has spoken at numerous conferences and her TEDx talk has had over two million views. As you grow in your career, you can become a strategic advisor and ultimately a leader using data to shape a future where humanity and organizations flourish. For more information on today's guest, visit: https://www.duarte.com/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “I very much think of myself as the leader behind, or the leader beside. I love to help people across their finish line, so get rid of that mistaken belief and realize that we can define leadership in so many different ways.” - Laverne McKinnon Leaders come in all different shapes and sizes, and the “old school” notion of being an extrovert and telling people what to do and how to do it is not effective, productive or sustainable. Today’s Finding Brave guest shows us that we are all leaders of some kind, and part of her mission is to inspire and challenge each of us to step into our leadership potential and make a positive impact on the world. Laverne McKinnon is the Executive Producer of the Netflix series Girlboss, and the co-founder of K&L Productions, a film & television company created with Kay Cannon (writer of the Pitch Perfect franchise and director of Blockers). K&L has a first-look production deal at Sony Television with multiple projects sold including Amazon, Quibi, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC and TBS. Laverne and Kay are passionate about championing underdog and underserved stories. Laverne is also a leadership and personal coach, certified grief counselor, and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s MS Leadership for Creative Enterprises program. For a significant part of her career, she was a successful programming executive with stints as SVP Drama Development at CBS and as EVP Original Programming & Development at EPIX. Laverne holds a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, is the former co-chairman of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (the longest-running and most prestigious Asian American & Pacific Islander non-profit) and is a passionate advocate for adoption and foster care programs. The world is in desperate need of a new type of leadership, and Laverne is a glowing example of someone who connects all the dots of who she is and what she stands for, in order to leverage her creativity fully and make a positive impact in the world. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://www.lavernemckinnon.com/ 

Thank you for listening to our Finding Brave show, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! “If we dare to create some space to honor the things that light us up, even if they’re not at all linked with our professional life, they will lift our happiness, our confidence, our presence and our joy. To a point that we bring more efficiency to our work, we also will bring more clarity to our life.” - Bronnie Ware The time we have is sacred, but it’s common for us to get caught up in our daily activities and forget this fact. Today’s Finding Brave guest has a message that will resonate with all those who are at a point in life where they know that change is needed, as she explores how life really is on our side and why in the end, courage indeed will be rewarded for those who are brave. Bronnie Ware is best known as the author of the international bestselling memoir The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, read by over a million people in 32 languages and with a movie in the pipeline. Bronnie is also an inspirational speaker. She lives in northern New South Wales, Australia, and is a passionate advocate for simplicity and leaving space to breathe. This conversation with Bronnie is about much more than the top regrets that people have at the end of their lives. It’s about realizing that happiness is a choice that each one of us can make, and we all can have it. After listening to this episode, you’ll have a clearer picture of what’s involved in living a life that fills your heart and allows a greater experience of joy every day, regardless of your current situation. To learn more about today's guest, visit: https://bronnieware.com/ 

Thank you for listening to Finding Brave, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! In honor of this wonderful holiday season, I'm happy to share my "Special Holiday Selections" taken from popular episodes from the start of the show. This episode offers what I hope you'll find to be helpful strategies for building 2020 as you truly want it. “You just have to believe that there’s a higher version of you that you can tap into and that can access higher-level wisdom, insight, solutions, strategies, people and connections. If you believe it, and if you believe it strongly, it’s amazing what happens in your life.” - Kathy Caprino Most of us know from experience that New Year's resolutions and the huge, hairy goals we dream up for our lives often arrive with great gusto, but all too frequently they die on the vine very soon after we've written them down. Today, I’m excited to share a helpful year-end strategy of reflection -- the process of reflecting back on the past year in an in-depth, careful and probing way, exploring all that you’ve learned and experienced, created, and also “failed” at -- as an effective step to get clearer clear on what you really want in your life. This reflection process helps you connect in a powerful, juicy way with your ultimate dreams and desires, and it highlights where you’ve been living “off course” - far away from what your most authentic self really wants. In this episode, I explore what I've found to be six essential reflection questions that are perfect for this time of year, to help us take stock, expand our gratitude and appreciation for all that we are today, and set the wheels in motion for shifting our approach to how we operate, communicate and engage with others and with our core challenges and power gaps. This reflection process hatches important new revelations, and sets the stage for a brand new future. As always, be gentle and compassionate with yourself as you reflect, and remember that everything that’s happened can be used to bolster and uplift you, if you let it. At the end of the show, I sing a little song to welcome in the New Year, from my heart to yours. I’d love to hear how your answers to these six questions impact you. And I welcome your suggestions for any future topics or interviewees that you’re interested in. Please reach out to me by email, or on social media via LinkedIn, or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and say hello and share your ideas! I wish you and your family very Happy Holidays and I’m looking forward to serving you fresh, new episodes of Finding Brave in 2019 that will move you forward to create life and work as you dream it to be. Happy New Year!

Thank you for listening to Finding Brave, ranked in the Top 100 Apple Podcasts in Careers! In honor of this wonderful holiday season, I'm happy to share my "Special Holiday Selections" for Finding Brave!  These episodes offer what I hope you'll find to be compelling and helpful messages that are great for exploring this time of year.  I hope you find this episode, the very first episode of this podcast, instrumental in developing your strength, commitment and courage to make 2020 just what you want it to be. In this first episode of Finding Brave, Kathy shares her deeply personal story about how she embarked on “Finding Brave” in her own life, and why mustering more bravery and courage is a vital endeavor for men and women around the world who want to live the highest version of themselves and reach their highest, most joyful potential. She defines #FINDINGBRAVE as this: Recognizing — and courageously leveraging — what you’re made of as a human and spiritual being, and mustering the commitment, passion and courage to draw on all that you are to create the life you dream of, through the fear and the pain. And she offers 10 essential ways to find brave in your life, with specific tips to get moving on your brave path.