Notes on Resilience

Send us a textWhat if the performance metrics we've relied on for decades are actually undermining our success? Radhika Dutt, entrepreneur, product leader, and author of Radical Product Thinking, challenges conventional leadership wisdom by revealing why traditional goals often backfire and introduces a compassionate approach to leadership through puzzle-setting and puzzle-solving frameworks.This eye-opening conversation explores how our current performance measurement systems originated from 1940s assembly lines, yet we continue applying them to complex knowledge work with predictably poor results. Radhika shares real-world examples from her 25 years of experience, including how companies can appear successful by their metrics right up until they suddenly fail. The culprit? Performance theater, where employees are incentivized to highlight wins and conceal problems, leaving leaders with a dangerous illusion of progress.The solution: Puzzle-setting and puzzle-solving. Rather than asking: What are your goals?, leaders can transform engagement by asking: What puzzles do you want to solve? This simple shift creates psychological safety and genuine enthusiasm. Her practical OHLs framework—Objectives, Hypotheses, and Learnings—provides the structure for implementing this approach without the anxiety of abandoning familiar systems.Ready to transform how you lead? Radhika Dutt is is an entrepreneur, speaker, product leader, and author of Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter which introduced a methodology now used in over 40 countries. She is also currently Advisor on Product Thinking to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator), and does consulting and training for organizations ranging from high-tech startups to multinationals on building radical products that create a fundamental change. She is now working on her second book, Escaping the Performance Trap: Why Goals and Targets Backfire and What Actually Works.Download the free OHLs toolkit at radicalproduct.com and start creating a more engaged, transparent, and truly compassionate workplace today.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 textDiscover why emotional intelligence might be the missing puzzle piece in your leadership strategy. Nada Nasserdeen, founder and CEO of Rise Up For You, unpacks the critical balance between compassion and maintaining high standards in today's workplace.She reveals the startling truth that 80% of business success depends not on technical prowess but on emotional intelligence, despite the fact that most companies continue investing primarily in technical training. She challenges the quick-fix mindset pervading leadership development, explaining why one-day retreats simply don't create lasting change. We explore the business impact of emotional intelligence--reduced turnover, increased engagement, higher sales performance, and solving costly people problems before they escalate. Nada shares practical insights on creating transparent company cultures where values are living principles guiding every aspect, from hiring to performance reviews.Perhaps most eye-opening is Gallup's consistent finding that 76% of North American workers remain disengaged while collecting paychecks. They are essentially being paid to underperform. This hidden productivity drain represents an enormous opportunity for companies willing to invest in meaningful emotional intelligence development.Whether you're struggling with high turnover, disengaged team members, or leadership effectiveness, this episode provides actionable strategies to transform your organization's approach to people development. Nada Nasserdeen is a speaker and the Founder and CEO of Rise Up For You, a global leader in soft skills and leadership development and author of Rise Up For You and Emotional Intelligence: The Path to Fulfillment, Influence, and Lasting Success. Her third book, Self-Confidence: How to Overcome the I’m Not Enough Mindset, is due out soon.Website: Riseupforyou.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/riseupforyou/Emotional Intelligence quiz: https://www.riseupforyou.com/eqquizGo 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 everything you thought you knew about leadership was based on an illusion? Hussein Hallak takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in Syria—where entrepreneur wasn't even a word in Arabic—to becoming a successful company founder who learned the hard way that command-and-control leadership doesn't work.Hussein admits he was once horrible to work with, until he discovered that true leadership means raising others up rather than asserting dominance. His transformation reveals how compassionate leadership creates organizational environments where innovation thrives. He challenges the fundamental premise that we can control our organizations, our teams, or even ourselves, and explains how our desperate attempts to maintain control actually sabotage our ability to adapt and grow. He reveals that these principles aren't new-age management theories but ancient wisdom about human psychology that we've temporarily forgotten during the industrial age. As he puts it, "That's how tribes work, that's how we work for a longer time." In returning to these collaborative roots, modern organizations can outpace competitors still clinging to outdated hierarchies.Ready to transform your approach to leadership? Listen to discover how compassionate leadership can revolutionize your organization while honoring the fundamental human need for meaning, connection, and contribution.Hussein Hallak is the CEO of Next Decentrum, a founder, entrepreneur, and strategist dedicated to helping people and organizations find clarity in complexity and build lasting impact. He is the author of The Dark Art of Life Mastery, a guide for living fearlessly, second-guessing less, and embracing true purpose.Website:  husseinhallak.comSubstack: husseinhallak.substack.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/husseinhallak 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 do you build an organization that grows without losing its soul?Kenny Lange believes the answer lies in compassionate leadership—but not in the way most people think.Kenny challenges the false dichotomy between organizational success and staying true to principles and argues that accountability represents one of the highest forms of compassion. In fact, organizational policies can often hinder authentic connection--they reflect what we do, not who we are.We also discuss why leaders struggle with compassion: they're being asked to give something they never received. With most people receiving their first management position a decade before receiving any leadership training, it's no wonder we see gaps in human-centered leadership. His solution? Start with self-compassion, then extend that same grace to teams while maintaining clear boundaries.Kenny Lange helps faith-forward founders scale without losing their soul. Creator of Lead to Scale™ and host of How Leaders Think podcast. Clients say he "calls you up, not out."You can learn more about Kenny on his website www.kennylange.com. Download his free 5-minute diagnostic to figure out how to grow without losing your soul and to receive a 44-page PDF customized to your leadership stage and style.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's the true value of kindness in business? According to Tara May, CEO of Aspiritech, compassion is a powerful driver of innovation, revenue, and profit.Our conversation explores the ROI of kindness, a concept that challenges traditional views by connecting human-centered leadership directly to business outcomes. Tara shares compelling insights from her experience leading a tech company where over 90% of employees are autistic adults, revealing how embracing neurodiversity creates a workplace where everyone can thrive as their authentic selves.We discuss the leadership development gap that plagues many organizations. Too often, companies promote stellar individual contributors into management roles without providing proper training, setting them up to struggle. "Leadership is a very different skill from individual excellence," Tara explains, "and it's a muscle that needs to be built up over time." This perspective offers a refreshing take on why compassionate management requires intentional cultivation.As we navigate technological disruptions like generative AI, Tara makes a compelling case that psychological safety—the ability to take risks and fail without fear—has never been more crucial. Companies that create environments where people feel safe experimenting will be the ones that thrive through constant change.Whether you're a seasoned executive or an emerging leader, this episode offers both practical wisdom and inspiring vision for creating workplaces where kindness and business success go hand in hand.Tara May is a leader in the movement for neurodiversity in the workplace. She is CEO of Aspiritech, a revolutionary tech company that employs more than 100 autistic adults representing more than 90% of its team. Tara is co-director of Neurowrx and a member of the strategic committee for HAAPE, or Helping Adults with Autism Perform and Excel, advocating for neurodiversity and employment both nationally and internationally and is a renowned speaker championing embracing neurodiversity, mental health, and most of all kindness, in the workplace.You can learn more about Tara and here work at Aspiritech or 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 textWhen crisis hits, what separates exceptional leaders from the rest? Dr. Heidi Steinecker draws from her remarkable career as Deputy Director of the California Department of Public Health and US Citizen Diplomat to reveal the unexpected qualities that define crisis leadership."What will do the least amount of harm?" This guiding question frames her approach to crisis management: She acknowledges that perfect solutions rarely exist, but strategic thinking can minimize suffering. Rather than merely reacting, she advocates for a proactive stance that combines data-driven decision-making with boots-on-the-ground intelligence gathering.Heidi challenges conventional wisdom about crisis response. Being too calm during congressional testimony once drew criticism, yet she argues that compartmentalizing emotions while remaining focused is precisely what effective leaders must do. This emotional intelligence extends to recognizing when teams need mandatory breaks, a lesson learned during marathon pandemic response efforts when staff worked seven days a week for months.The conversation explores how relationship-building before crises creates the foundation for an effective response and how trust and cultural understanding outweigh technological solutions. Her unique global perspective bridges lessons from remote villages to state-level pandemic management. And she finds hope in the next generation of leaders entering the workforce, who bring fresh enthusiasm and innovative approaches to complex problems. Their creativity and comfort with new tools promise more responsive, effective crisis management for the future.Dr. Heidi W. Steinecker is a distinguished public health leader with over two decades of experience in healthcare delivery systems and public health policy. She has held several key leadership roles, including serving as a US Citizen Diplomat for US Department of State, Deputy Director at the California Department of Public Health and Principal at Resultant Consulting, where she advises government leaders on innovative ways to improve healthcare system strengthening, disease surveillance infrastructure, data modernization, and proactive analytic systems for preventative interventions in population health. Her work spans pandemic preparedness, quality and safety systems, and global health security, including epidemiological fieldwork in Uganda’s border of DRC and Rwanda. With a proven ability to align strategy, policy, and operations, Dr. Steinecker is committed to building resilient health systems and disease mitigation platforms to improve local and global health. Her expertise lies in integrating data-driven systems with people-centered processes to drive transformational change across all levels of healthcare and public health infrastructure.You can learn more about 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 textNo one will listen to you and really embrace you unless they know that you're there with the right intentions.Ali Uren, founder of Kiikstart, challenges conventional thinking about what truly drives workplace success.The episode introduces Ali's powerful concept of the kindness bank--a framework where leaders make daily deposits through acts of generosity, attentiveness, and support. These deposits create a reserve from which leaders can draw when difficult conversations arise. Ali also explores adversity intelligence, the skill set, mindset, and attitude that allows individuals to transform challenges into opportunities while maintaining well-being. Compassionate leadership creates the conditions for adversity intelligence to flourish, providing teams with the resources needed to bounce back (and forward) from setbacks.The conversation tackles why leadership development often fails in organizations worldwide. We frequently promote individuals based on technical prowess rather than leadership capacity, creating a fundamental disconnect between expectations and reality. Ali points to a critical gap: decision-makers often view learning and development as mere information transmission rather than a strategic business driver.For those seeking practical ways to measure compassion in the workplace, Ali offers surprisingly simple but profound questions: How kind was your manager to you in the last two weeks?How did that kindness show itself?"These straightforward inquiries provide concrete data points for assessing a leader's compassionate impact.Visit Ali's website Kiikstart.com and connect with her on LinkedIn where she shares daily content on developing people and businesses.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 textWhen a disability care organization struggled with high turnover and poor morale, today's guest, Karen Ansen, suggested flipping its organizational chart to put frontline caregivers at the top. The organization transformed its culture and operations by asking employees directly what they needed.Karen is an employment lawyer and leadership coach who brings humanity to high-conflict employment situations. As an attorney who deals with terminations and workplace disputes, Karen creates space for authentic communication while managing legal risks. She coaches leaders through their fear of legal repercussions while addressing the underlying issues. By unpacking how organizations reach breaking points, she helps clients avoid repeating painful patterns.Karen's wisdom comes from personal experience—she's felt the sting of workplace conflict and knows the toll it takes. "Every person you've ever talked to has a terrible war story about what happened to them at work," she notes. "And I often say to people, 'don't let this be your story.'" This perspective shapes her unique approach combining legal expertise with soul-centered leadership practices, including breathwork sessions for executives.Ready to transform your approach to workplace challenges? Explore how compassionate leadership can strengthen your organization while maintaining appropriate boundaries. Your team deserves nothing less.Karen Ansen is a heart-led employment lawyer and leadership coach who believes the greatest transformations—whether in workplaces or in life—begin with listening deeply and leading with compassion. With decades of experience supporting aged care and community care leaders through complex challenges, Karen brings a rare blend of legal wisdom, emotional insight, and soulful presence to everything she does.She is the founder of Ignite HR & Employment Law and Ignite Your Purpose, two values-based businesses that blend compliance with care, structure with soul, and leadership with deep inner alignment.Learn more about Karen on LinkedIn and by visiting the Ignite HR & Employment Law 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 textLeaders tend to bifurcate, going to one extreme or the other. Some become hyper-competent but emotionally disconnected. Others display overwhelming empathy without direction.Crisis response expert Jeff Gorter reveals that effective leadership during traumatic events requires a delicate balance of compassion and competence. Drawing from his experience responding to organizational crises at R3 Continuum, Jeff explains why some leaders falter while others shine during critical moments.The conversation explores our unprecedented era of "cascading collective crises" – a succession of traumatic events without adequate processing time between them. Unlike previous generations who might hear about distant disasters days or weeks later, today's technology delivers every tragedy in real time, often re-traumatizing us through repeated exposure. This constant barrage disrupts our essential human need to make sense of difficult experiences.Particularly illuminating is Jeff's insight about how we interpret our trauma responses. When facing a crisis, our bodies naturally engage survival mechanisms – fight, flight, or freeze responses hardwired into our brains. The difference between prolonged suffering and recovery often lies in recognizing these reactions as normal human responses rather than personal failures. "It's not that I'm broken," he explains, "I'm simply having a bad case of being human."Despite the challenges we face, hope persists. We don't get to pick when crisis happens, but we do get to choose how we respond. That choice defines our path to recovery.Jeff Gorter, MSW, LCSW, is VP of Clinical Crisis Response Services at R3 Continuum. He brings over 30 years of clinical experience including consultation and extensive on-site critical incident response to businesses and communities. He has responded directly to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, the Las Vegas Shooting, the breaching of the US Capitol, the 2023 Hawaii Wildfires, the 2024 Asheville Floods, and the 2025 DC Aviation Disaster, among others.You can learn more about R3 Continuum on its website R3c.com. And learn more about Jeff on LinkedIn or contact him via email: jeff.gorter@r3c.comGo 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 textWhen tested, we don't rise to the level of our aspirations. We fall back to the level of our training, habits, and policies.This episode originally aired on The Breakout podcast, where I joined hosts Dr. Keri Ohlrich and Kelly Guenther to talk about trauma, recovery, resilience, and how society fails invisible victims of traumatic events. For every physical injury in mass violence events, studies show between 5-40 people suffer psychological injuries—yet these survivors remain largely unacknowledged. "People openly told me my experience didn't count," she shares, revealing how this invalidation creates a secondary trauma that compounds suffering. This stigma drives many trauma survivors into silence, delaying treatment and deepening isolation.Our workplace environments significantly impact healing—we spend approximately 90,000 hours at work over our lifetimes, and research shows managers influence our mental health as much as spouses and more than therapists. Yet most workplaces remain ill-equipped to support employees dealing with trauma.Good intentions aren't enough. Organizations need embedded structures that support psychological safety regardless of who manages a team.Listen to this powerful episode to understand how workplace cultures can either accelerate or hinder healing, and discover practical ways to create environments where everyone—including trauma survivors—can bring their best selves to work every day.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