Notes on Resilience

Send us a textHave you ever considered that your leadership style might be trapped in patterns established when you were five years old? That's just one of the eye-opening perspectives shared by Gary Cohen, managing partner and co-founder of CO2 Partners, in this thought-provoking exploration of compassionate leadership.Gary introduces us to the powerful metaphor of walking the ridgeline – the delicate balance leaders must maintain between excessive ego on one side and debilitating humility on the other. This balance, he argues, is essential for authentic leadership that inspires rather than demands compliance. Through compelling stories and practical insights, Gary illuminates how our earliest experiences with authority shape our leadership approach, creating what he calls a cascade of fear that ripples through organizations.Perhaps most provocatively, Gary challenges conventional leadership wisdom by exposing how permission-seeking and permission-giving dynamics undermine trust and accountability. He shares how true leadership requires breaking these patterns – illustrated perfectly by the story of Mike Harper, who transformed ConAgra from near bankruptcy to a $20 billion company by refusing to give answers when his executives sought permission. Instead, he returned responsibility to them, building a culture of ownership and decision-making confidence.The conversation travels through unexpected territory – from Gary's accidental car theft to the profound impact of authenticity in leadership and how our current social climate influences leadership styles. Throughout, Gary offers practical approaches to measuring psychological safety and building genuine trust within teams.Whether you're leading a large organization, a small team, or simply interested in the psychology of leadership, this episode offers fresh perspectives on creating workplaces built on trust rather than fear. Connect with us on LinkedIn or visit manyachalinski.com to continue the conversation about compassionate leadership.Gary Cohen is an executive coach and leadership management consultant and the Managing Partner and Co-founder of CO2 Partners, LLC. He probes his clients with the only kind of questions that can produce change: unexpected ones. From the client’s answers, he offers not just insights but alternative courses of action. He has yet to meet a client who wants to be ordinary, and he helps them enjoy unusual success by employing unusual approaches. He is also the author of Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions.You can connect with Gary on LinkedIn.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textWhat if the secret to effective leadership wasn't having all the answers, but rather creating space for genuine human connection? In this enlightening conversation with Keri Ohlrich and Kelly Guenther, co-founders of the Abbracci Group, we explore the transformative power of compassion in the workplace.The dialogue begins with a fundamental truth: people want to feel cared for, regardless of whether they're at home or at work. Despite this simple reality, many managers struggle to show genuine empathy and vulnerability—often because they've been conditioned to maintain professional distance or believe they must always provide immediate solutions to every problem.As Keri points out, it is hard to fully listen as humans, especially in our hyper-connected, distraction-filled world. Yet this skill becomes increasingly crucial in times of uncertainty. Kelly emphasizes that managers needn't have answers to every question; sometimes their most valuable contribution is simply acknowledging, "I don't know what's going on, but as soon as I have information, I'll share it with you."The conversation navigates the delicate balance between compassion and boundaries. Contrary to popular belief, these concepts aren't opposites—in fact, clear expectations and boundaries are themselves compassionate acts. Without them, managers risk becoming ineffective "besties" rather than leaders who can guide their teams through challenges.Perhaps most compelling is the business case for compassion. When employees don't feel cared for, engagement plummets, discretionary effort disappears, and eventually, customer experience suffers. It might not happen right away, Keri warns, but eventually you will lose customers, clients, and revenue.Through personal stories and practical insights, this episode offers a masterclass in human-centered leadership that acknowledges our shared vulnerability while maintaining the structure necessary for organizational success.Keri Ohlrich and Kelly Guenther are the founders of Abbracci Group, co-authors of  “Whatever the Hell You Want," and hosts of The Breakout podcast.  Dr. Keri Ohlrich has over two decades in HR leadership, and embodies a passion for transforming workplaces into thriving ecosystems. Kelly Guenther brings a holistic approach to people and talent, focusing not only on the organization but also on the individuals who create teams.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textWhat happens when a leader admits they've made a mistake? This vulnerability forms the bedrock of trust in modern organizations. And trust is in critically short supply. The psychological contract between employers and employees has fundamentally fractured, leaving many professionals feeling disposable rather than valued.In this conversation with executive coach Cynthia Pong, we explore how compassionate leadership creates the psychological safety necessary for high-performing teams and the need to invest in measuring and developing compassion as a core competency. We discuss practical metrics for tracking psychological safety (like the number and types of questions team members feel comfortable asking) and examine how organizations can rebuild trust in small, meaningful steps.The stakes couldn't be higher. As Cynthia notes, companies will lose out on A++ talent, who will go to a competitor because the competitor has a better culture. With five generations in today's workplace and values-driven Gen Z employees entering the workforce, compassionate leadership is essential for organizational survival.Cynthia Pong, JD, is an award-winning executive coach and speaker who empowers women of color leaders to advance their careers into positions of power. She is Founder and CEO of Embrace Change, working with a team to provide specialized coaching and training programs for high-performing women of color up to the C-suite. She is the author of the book Don’t Stay in Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color.You can learn more about her company on the website or LinkedIn.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textHow does play transform workforce dynamics?Monika Guzek, founder of JoyFlow, challenges conventional workplace wisdom with a refreshing take on organizational resilience. From jumping off a 12-meter waterfall despite her fear of heights to teaching CEOs the power of play, Monica embodies the change-embracing spirit she cultivates in others.We discuss how play helps executives approach complex problems through creativity rather than pure analysis, and the three essential ingredients of resilience: relationships, sunshine, and nutrition. These fundamentals form the backbone of sustainable workplace well-being, yet are frequently overlooked in favor of complicated wellness programs.Your workplace doesn't have to wait for a crisis to prioritize well-being—start building that foundation today. Are you ready to transform how your organization approaches resilience and psychological safety? Monika Guzek is a speaker, coach, consultant, and Founder of JoyFlow: Success through Joy, Diversity & Resilience. She helps leaders and organizations cultivate inclusive, high-performing cultures where resilience, authenticity, and joy fuel success. Her mission is to help leaders break free from burnout, embrace joy, and harness play as a powerful driver of success and resilience —because the best results come when we are happy and fulfilled.Connect with Monika on LinkedIn or explore more resources on building compassionate, resilient teams on her website. Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textWhat happens when your company faces a crisis? For Richard Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations, the answer wasn't found in emergency protocols or contingency plans. It was deeply embedded in the culture of joy his organization had built over decades.When COVID-19 struck and Menlo lost 60% of its revenue, their collaborative in-person work model seemed impossible to maintain. Yet something remarkable happened. While Sheridan momentarily felt like Houdini shackled and thrown to the bottom of an icy river, his team quickly self-organized, experimenting with solutions that would ultimately lead the company to its strongest years ever.The secret? A foundation of joy that's fundamentally different from fleeting happiness. "Joy is seeing over the horizon," Sheridan explains, "and realizing there's satisfaction that comes from fighting the hard fight, even when everything feels stacked against you."In this candid conversation, Rich reveals the five-step framework that guided Menlo's recovery: survive, adapt, sustain, emerge stronger, and thrive again. He shares how vulnerability becomes a leader's greatest strength during crisis, why authenticity can't be faked, and how the question "What do they need as human beings?" transformed difficult situations.Most powerfully, Rich demonstrates how compassionate leadership creates ripple effects far beyond the workplace: If people have better lives at work, they'll be better parents, better spouses, better neighbors and community members.For leaders navigating uncertainty, this conversation offers both practical guidance and profound inspiration. The lesson? Don't wait for a crisis to build a culture of joy. Start today, because relationships and resilience are built over time, not overnight.Richard Sheridan, is the CEO, Chief Storyteller & Tour Guide of Menlo Innovations and author of Joy, Inc. - How We Built a Workplace People Love and Chief Joy Officer – How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear.Learn more about Menlo Innovations or sign up for a tour on their website and follow Rich on LinkedIn.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textToday's workplace demands whole-person management: Employees no longer check their emotions and personal challenges at the door.Guest Malvika Jethmalani, three-time CHRO and co-founder of Atvis Group, talks about the three-step employee listening strategy that forms the foundation of compassionate leadership: listening to understand pain points, analyzing feedback implications, and taking meaningful action.She shares why many organizations create survey fatigue and erode trust by collecting data without follow-through, and offers practical insights on balancing quantitative methods like engagement surveys with qualitative approaches such as focus groups, as drivers of better business outcomes.We discuss psychological safety as a business imperative, immersion instead of traditional onboarding, and how politically charged topics like return-to-office policies and DEI initiatives require thoughtful leadership approaches that go beyond performative actions.Malvika explains why the rise of AI is actually elevating the importance of human interaction in the workplace. As technical skills become more commoditized through low-code solutions, what she calls power skills – the ability to connect, empathize, and collaborate – are becoming the true differentiators. For HR professionals especially, this technological shift creates an unprecedented opportunity to focus on the truly human aspects of human resources.Malvika Jethmalani is a 3x CHRO and the Co-Founder of Atvis Group – a human capital advisory firm driven by the core belief that to win in the marketplace, businesses must first win in the workplace. You can learn about Malvika's work on the Atvis Group website or on LinkedIn.  And you can learn more about her or contact her via LinkedIn. We are driven by the core belief that to win in the marketplace, Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textBurnout is an occupational phenomenon officially recognized by the World Health Organization.So, what happens when workplace cultures keep us from addressing it directly? Can leaders really create space for authentic conversations about wellbeing?Wellness expert Jasmin Dennis shares a powerful framework for identifying and preventing emotional burnout through compassionate leadership, showing how leaders can address different manifestations of burnout—lack of energy, decreased productivity, workplace detachment—by tackling one manageable slice at a time.We explore what happens when leaders themselves experience burnout and why it's essential that wellness initiatives include everyone from frontline employees to top executives. Jasmine shares how simple phrases like "tell me what's going on" can transform workplace dynamics, and why embedding compassion into organizational systems ensures these values persist through leadership changes.Whether you're a leader struggling with a burned-out team or someone experiencing emotional exhaustion yourself, this episode provides actionable strategies for cultivating environments where well-being is prioritized and compassion drives success. Jasmin Dennis is a seasoned expert in creating and implementing transformative workplace wellness programs. Her efforts focus on preventing burnout, boosting employee morale, and reducing healthcare costs, all while fostering environments where teams thrive.You can learn more about Jasmin on her website or YouTube channel, and you can connect with her on Linkedin.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textWhat does it take to authentically lead with compassion? For Lori Pappas—entrepreneur, humanitarian, and author of "The Magic of Yes"—the answer lies at the intersection of self-awareness, organizational alignment, and redefined success metrics. She shares her journey from successful entrepreneur to humanitarian, revealing how addressing personal trauma enhanced her ability to lead with authentic compassion.We discussed a framework for compassionate leadership built on three pillars: System alignment (ensuring compensation, recognition, and promotion systems reflect compassionate values)Communication (seeking first to understand rather than be understood)Metrics that incorporate human well-being alongside productivity measures."Employees are brilliant," she emphasizes. "The mistake many leaders make is relying only on their management team." This approach not only improved operations but created such profound connections that 30 years later, her former employees still implement and value the leadership principles they learned together.Ready to transform your leadership approach? Discover why Lori believes employee turnover is the greatest risk of non-compassionate leadership, and how building trust—sometimes literally through trust falls in Ethiopian huts—creates the foundation for teams that innovate, adapt, and thrive through any challenge.Connect with Lori at www.loripappas.com or through her Facebook group The Wise Woman Sisterhood. Her book The Magic of Yes: Embrace the Wise Woman Within is available at Bookshop and Barnes & Noble.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a text"If you take care of your people and projects, the clients usually come right along."Executive coach Rob Ott takes us deep into the world of compassionate leadership, drawing from decades of experience building high-performing teams. He reveals how truly people-first organizations achieve remarkable business outcomes while nurturing fulfilling workplace cultures.Rob co-founded a company that became what former employees describe as one of the best places they've ever worked. Through rich examples and reflections, he illustrates how organizations can measure compassion through both qualitative feedback and quantitative metrics like turnover rates and engagement patterns. He also discusses how leadership responds during crisis—those revealing moments when pressure reveals character. He shares invaluable lessons about communication cadence, transparency, and maintaining people-centered approaches even when the metaphorical house is on fire. Whether you're leading teams through uncertainty, building organizational resilience, or simply seeking to create a more humane workplace without sacrificing results, this episode offers practical wisdom for leadership that puts humans first. Rob is the founder of Ott Management Solutions and a consultant and executive leadership coach known for his effective and straightforward coaching style, having mentored and coached employees and executives across many disciplines. The impact Rob strives for extends beyond business success into the career and lives of those he works with. You can find Rob on LinkedIn and learn more about his company on their website.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

Send us a textEmbrace the transformative power of compassionate leadership in our latest episode with Scott Healy, CEO of Psych Hub. He shares profound insights into why leaders should prioritize empathy, understanding, and trust within their teams. From recognizing the personal struggles of employees to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates diverse perspectives, Scott provides practical strategies for building a supportive environment. Discover how a "no assholes rule" can reshape workplace dynamics and enhance overall morale, leading to better retention rates and innovation. This episode offers a fresh take on leadership that goes beyond traditional metrics, emphasizing the importance of meaningful connections. Join us in this enlightening conversation that challenges conventional views about leadership and inspires you to cultivate a workplace where every team member feels valued and empowered. Scott Healy is a mission-driven leader who has helped build several early-stage businesses into successful companies. He is the CEO of Psych Hub, and was on the founding executive team of Care.com. In his spare time, Scott is an advisor to startup companies and a mentor to young entrepreneurs. Learn more about PsychHub or take the wellbeing assessment. And you can reach Scott on LinkedIn.Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.Support the show__________ Producer / Editor: Neel PanjiInvite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor