The Conversation Factory

Marcy Syms is a pioneering businesswoman and advocate for respect in leadership. She’s seen leadership fads come and go. She was a CEO when people still thought “women shouldn’t do that sort of thing”  And she’s done something many folks have never had to endure - shuttering her family’s business while making her key creditors whole - an act deeply in line with her core value of respect. Marcy shares insights from her journey in the retail industry, her experiences with leadership dynamics  and her advocacy for the Equal Rights Amendment - something she hopes to see made part of the constitution while she’s still around to enjoy it! Why Respect? 🗝️Respect drives sustainable growth - respect for your team allows them to feel empowered to be the face of your business and to build the processes and systems that make growth sustainable. 🗝️Giving respect helps you get respect - starting first, leading the conversation with respect at the core helps get things done, especially in times of stress and turbulence. 🗝️Respect is outer behavior and inner work - to make it a core habit and your default behavior takes strategic reflection and personal growth. Check out the full conversation 👇 🎙️ Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3QzcPAW  🍎 Apple: https://apple.co/4ifh6pb  📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@danielstillman-TCF-podcast 🌐more episodes at https://theconversationfactory.com/listen And please subscribe on Spotify or iTunes! Also! support the podcast with  a monthly contribution here: https://theconversationfactory.com/conversation-factory-insider or a one-time donation here.: https://dastillman.gumroad.com/l/dscoffee Don’t have time to watch or listen to the full episode? To learn more about leading conversations more powerfully and beautifully, watch these short clips 👇 👀make respect a habit and start from within https://youtu.be/tmURMgvcnIs 👀How to Respond to Disrespect with Dignity and Strategy https://youtu.be/f21aAalKGLU 👀To Scale you need to Respect your team https://youtube.com/shorts/HczFY9-ASFw 👀Leadership Balances Top Down Strategy and Bottom up Insights https://youtube.com/shorts/57yWfiQtykw 👀Know your board as humans https://youtu.be/eH5Mv95iunE One Takeaway to not forget: Fight for the ERA! Marcy shares how she sees the ERA as the ultimate sign of respect and continues to fight for women’s full inclusion in the constitution. Watch here: https://youtu.be/YAbEAqIVxzU Key Links: Marcy’s book: Leading with the Respect Marcy’s website

Adam Kahane, Director at Reos Partners and author on collaboration, shares insights on systemic transformation. He emphasizes that real change starts with understanding and responsibly engaging with systems. Kahane introduces seven everyday habits for transformation, encouraging listeners to identify 'cracks' as opportunities. He illustrates the importance of collaboration in urban transformations, like Montreal's bicycle infrastructure, and reflects on the need for responsible action, highlighting personal accountability and collective responsibility in enacting change.

Get free chapters of my book, Good Talk, and master the art of conversations big and small: https://www.danielstillman.com/good-talk Please support the podcast! 💌 subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3QzcPAW 💌 iTunes: https://apple.co/4ifh6pb or with a monthly contribution here: https://bit.ly/support-tcf-monthly one-time donation here: https://bit.ly/support-tcf-once Check out the episode page for the full transcript and video highlights. Episode page: https://theconversationfactory.com/podcast/innovation-connection-and-conscious-leadership-with-othership-ceo-robbie-bent AI Summary: Introduction and Connection: Daniel Stillman introduces Robbie Bent, highlighting the connection through mutual acquaintance Robbie Hammond. Inception of OtherShip: Robbie shares the story of starting with a backyard ice bath, fostering community connections without the influence of alcohol. Innovative Experiences: Discussion on unique offerings at OtherShip, such as comedy nights and men's work sessions, blending wellness with entertainment. Creativity and Experimentation: Robbie emphasizes the importance of allowing creativity to emerge through testing and iteration. Challenges and Growth: Insights into the challenges faced in expanding OtherShip, including managing stress and maintaining personal well-being. Community and Relationships: The role of community in personal and business growth, with Robbie working closely with his wife and friends. Facilitating Conversations: The significance of open communication and addressing conflicts early in both personal and professional settings. Future Aspirations: Robbie's excitement about expanding OtherShip and continuing to innovate in the wellness space. Links Othership - https://www.othership.us/ Follow Robbie Bent on Instagram | LinkedIn IG: https://www.instagram.com/robbiebent/?hl=en LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbiebent/    

Fractional CFO Lauren Pearl helps entrepreneurs untangle the emotional complexities of financial conversations. She discusses the importance of asking 'why' to understand deeper issues and fosters effective dialogue. Lauren also emphasizes adapting communication styles to build trust and tackle sensitive topics with vulnerability. The discussion touches on aligning business values with profitability, navigating financial challenges, and ensuring clarity in decision-making to empower founders to make informed choices.

Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis, the creative minds behind the documentary "Join or Die," dive into the challenges and triumphs of collaborative filmmaking. They explore how familial roots and shared frustrations with mainstream media spark their passion for community engagement. The duo emphasizes the importance of humility and conviction in creative conflicts, highlighting how those disagreements can lead to personal growth. They also discuss the transformative power of community screenings, fostering connections, and bridging societal divides through shared creative experiences.

Get free chapters of my book, Good Talk, and master the art of conversations big and small: https://www.danielstillman.com/good-talk Please support the podcast! 💌 subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3QzcPAW 💌 iTunes: https://apple.co/4ifh6pb or with a monthly contribution here: https://bit.ly/support-tcf-monthly one-time donation here: https://bit.ly/support-tcf-once Check out the episode page for the full transcript and video highlights. https://theconversationfactory.com/podcast/founder-led-sales-with-parallel-health-ceo-natalise-kalea-robinson We break down:  The Importance of Deep and Authentic Conversations and unpack how Natalise fosters honest and open conversations and has worked to build a company culture that reflects these values.  Intentional Co-founder Relationship Building: We talk about how Natalise and her co-founder, Nathan Brown, approached building a strong relationship intentionally by having regular in-depth conversations and retreats together in some of their favorite spots. She shares some of her favorite questions to bring into these co-founder conversations.  Founder-Led Sales and CEO as Science Translator: Both Natalise and her co-founder Nathan are actively involved in explaining their product to both investors and consumers. We talk about how she approaches adapting her message for different audiences, always striving to put the science ahead of marketing. Highlighting the Potential of Phage Therapy: We dive into some of the science behind phage therapy and its potential as a precise and sustainable alternative to antibiotics. The Value of Open Feedback and Continuous Evolution: Natalise encourages feedback from all levels within her company and believes that good ideas can come from anywhere. She also emphasizes the importance of ongoing communication and alignment between co-founders. Key Chapters 00:00 Exploring the Depth of Conversations 03:01 The Ambivert Spectrum: Understanding Social Dynamics 06:06 Creating Safe Spaces for Honest Conversations 09:01 Feedback Culture: The Art of Positive Feedback 11:57 Building Authentic Relationships in Business 14:57 The Journey of Co-Founders: Nathan and Natalise 21:01 Navigating Vulnerability in Professional Relationships 24:17 Navigating Co-Founder Relationships 30:14 The Art of Communication in Business 37:45 Understanding Phage Technology and Its Impact 46:02 Building Strong Co-Founder Foundations Links https://www.parallelhealth.io/ Parallel Health on TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/20/parallel-health-takes-a-biotech-forward-approach-to-skincare-with-custom-phage-therapy/ Video Highlight Links 👀Giving Praise with powerful Specificity: https://youtube.com/shorts/5zwdVyJr_mc 👀Leaning into Difficult Cofounder Conversations: https://youtube.com/shorts/MjeDjSIUeDM 👀In Founder-Led Sales, the Marketing Serves the Science: https://youtube.com/shorts/fp6oKVhq-FQ

Carole Robin, PhD, a seasoned professor from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and co-author of "Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships," shares insights on leadership. She emphasizes the importance of vulnerability and emotional intelligence in communication. The discussion covers how authentic connections enhance team dynamics and the balance between honesty and kindness. Carole also explores transformative retreats for leadership development, showcasing the power of immersive experiences in fostering growth and connection within the tech industry.

Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, a renowned professor and the founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, delves into the fascinating relationship between beauty, conversation, and the human brain. He discusses how our evolutionary history shapes modern communication and highlights biases in perceiving beauty. Chatterjee emphasizes embracing complexity in understanding truth, advocating for genuine connections in dialogues, and critiques cultural stereotypes around physical differences. His insights illuminate the artistry present in meaningful conversations.

If you want to change the game, changing the rules and incentives of the game is a powerful approach. Few people who watch the news - or those folks who avoid watching the news! - would say the political system in the United States is going according to plan. The founding fathers, if they were alive today, would be aghast at the unbridgeable chasm that seems to have developed in our political culture, making dialogue, compromise and progress nearly impossible on some of our most pressing issues.  In fact, our founding fathers warned against the rise of what they called factions in their time, and what we today call political parties.  All of this is happening at a time when the majority of Americans agree that common-sense laws for guns, healthcare and other issues are badly needed. If you look at the numbers, we’re closer together on more issues than you’d think. Research shows that our leaders are often much more polarized than we as a people are. Meanwhile, the US and local governments get less done, eroding our confidence in our democracy. What can we do to change the game? Some people say “let’s get rid of the electoral college!” but such large scale changes are hard. My guest today has a simple solution that starts at the local level to change the political conversation. Nick Troiano is a civic entrepreneur based in Denver, Colorado, and is the Executive Director of Unite America –– a non-partisan organization that seeks to foster a more functional and representative government.  Nick has been a leader in the political reform movement over the last decade, beginning as a founding staff member of Americans Elect in 2010. Nick ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 10th District in 2014 and drew national attention as both the youngest candidate that cycle and the most competitive independent U.S. House candidate in nearly two decades. He subsequently worked for Change.org to launch a mobile application to help voters cast informed ballots.  In 2016, Nick was named to the "Forbes 30 Under 30" for Law & Policy. He earned a Master’s degree in American Government from Georgetown University. He has spoken on the topics of political and fiscal reform to dozens of groups across the country, including along three national bus tours that collectively visited over 40 states. Nick is the author of The Primary Solution an *excellent* book that explains the challenge and a viable set of solutions to political division in America, and a producer on the 2024 film Majority Rules which lets you watch political change unfold in real-time. I highly recommend watching Majority Rules - you can rent it on Youtube now! You will see partisan politicians learn to navigate a different political game as the rules are changed - and become more issues-focused instead of attacking personalities, and more inclusive than divisive. I also highly recommend supporting primary reform in your region - it’s a non-partisan issue that can help us become less partisan! Listen to the end where Nick and I discuss how he leads his organization and builds coalitions while living his leadership and political values. Head over to theconversationfactory.com/listen for full episode transcripts, links, show notes  and more key quotes and ideas. You can also head over there and become a monthly supporter of the show for as little as $8 a month. You'll get complimentary access to exclusive workshops and resources that I only share with this circle of facilitators and leaders. Links The Primary Solution https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Primary-Solution/Nick-Troiano/9781668028254 Majority Rules.  https://majorityrulesfilm.com/ David Mayhew’s Book “Congress: The Electoral Connection”

Warning - this episode uses a specific curse word - a lot. And once we started using one, we started using more of them. So…if f-bombs, sprinkled like salt are not your cup of tea, this is a good episode to skip! My guest today is Rebecca R Block, PhD, who is an expert in helping organizations build programs, services and products that equip young people to develop the confidence and skills they need to enter adulthood as thriving and adaptable lifelong learners. She has spent the last 14 years leading the design, improvement, and evaluation of educational programs and services to make them more impactful and learner-centered. She has built R&D departments from scratch and managed large and small teams responsible for creating, measuring, and improving learning experiences. She also wrote a book with the word “Shit” in the title…or Shit, with an asterisk where the “I” goes, which actually makes her book a bit hard to google! The book is titled “Can You Help Me Give a Sh*t? Unlocking Teen Motivation in School and Life,” and she teamed up with Grace L Edwards, a current undergraduate student, to talk to young people across the country and gather their stories about what truly makes for engaging learning environments. In the process, she learned a lot about how motivation works for everyone, not just teens, and has taken those lessons learned into her work as a leader, parent, and educator.  In the opening quote Becca outlines the ABCs of Motivation. These ABCs are true for children and adults - we’re basically the same species. And the work of luminaries such as Peter Senge and Amy Edmondson make it clear that great working environments are great learning environments - places where we can create and sustain positive feedback learning loops with ourselves and others. So it’s essential for anyone leading or managing others (or themselves!) to understand how motivation really works.  We also talk about Becca’s essential values when it comes to co-creation - that is, making a systems change along with the people in that system who will be affected by that change. Co-creation is not just a good idea… it leverages the truths about motivation that Becca shared in her opening quote. People are much more likely to want to participate in change that they’ve taken part in forming, rather than going along with something forced on them. Two Levels of Systems Change We also talk about the need to work on at least two levels when engaging in systems change: Helping people, now Helping make a bigger shift, over time. Given that Becca knows how challenging it can be to transform a system as complex as education, she focuses her work in this book on helping people, now, to work to create change for themselves, within the current system. This perspective is helpful for anyone leading a team in a larger organization or anyone leading an organization within a larger industry they are hoping to transform. Listen in for Becca’s deeper breakdown of the ABC’s of motivation, as well, summarized here! The ABCs of Motivation Ability Belonging Choices Ability: In any situation where you want someone (or even yourself!) to have sustained motivation, you need the Ability to do (or learn how to do) the things you want to do. Indeed, whenever you find that someone isn’t doing something you have asked them to do, it’s important to ask - is this an issue of Will or Skill? In other words, can they do the thing? If they can’t yet, do they have the confidence in their ability to learn the thing? Belonging: Real relationships help us accomplish things. I show up for my Spanish lessons (partly) because I’ve paid for them, and partly because I’d feel bad for standing up my tutor, even though the classes are online. Ditto for my exercise classes. Real relationships create real motivation. In a recent episode, I spoke with Robbie Hammond, Co-founder of the High Line, who talked about how his relationship with his Co-Founder Josh David kept him going through a difficult decade of bringing their dream to reality - talk about Relationships = Motivation! Choices: Having real choices means you have the autonomy to determine for yourself what you are going to do. “Liberty or Death” isn’t much of a choice - although it is one many have taken. Becca suggests that dysfunctional workplaces create crappy or fake choices, and functional ones enable everyone to see how the work fits into their own personal why. I connect these ideas to my recent interview with Ashley Goodall, author of “Nine Lies about Work” and most recently “The Problem with Change." Ashley says, “The ultimate job of leadership is not disruption and it is not to create change; it is to create a platform for human contribution, to create the conditions in which people can do the best work of their lives.” This is what every human (and teenager!) actually really wants, if they can connect to the ABCs of motivation. Head over to theconversationfactory.com/listen for full episode transcripts, links, show notes  and more key quotes and ideas. You can also head over there and become a monthly supporter of the show for as little as $8 a month. You'll get complimentary access to exclusive workshops and resources that I only share with this circle of facilitators and leaders. Links Get the book here BeccaBlock.com Becca’s podcast CanYouHelpMeGiveA.com.  If you want to be on her podcast: fill out a form here!