Greatness Podcast

How deep is your relationships with yourself? Are you a “life entrepreneur”? Gregg Vanourek, co-author of Triple Crown Leadership and fellow lecturer at the University of Denver joined the Greatness podcast to share his insights on how leaders create cultures of excellence, ethics and endurance, in part by first deeply understanding questions such as “who am I? and “why am I here?”. Great suggestions on reflection as a leader to start the new year.

How do we hold confidence and humility simultaneously? How can we act confidently without coming across as boastful or arrogant? Michelle Sales, Author of The Power of Real Confidence, joined the Greatness podcast to share her research and advice for being a confident, connected leader. Michelle’s four elements of confidence, and her ability to leverage the ideas of other researchers, really resonated with me. 

Mindfulness – one of this century’s most popular buzzwords, yet do we really deeply understand what mindfulness means? How do leaders and teams go about developing mindfulness competencies? Michael Chaskalson is noted for being the first person in the world to receive a masters in the clinical application of mindfulness. Michael joined the Greatness podcast from Cambridge to share research on the three competencies of mindfulness and new work on how teams approach collective mindfulness. I loved Michael’s “why” for mindfulness – keeping us from making “dumb moves” – those actions we take when we aren’t fully present to the moment. 

Hello everyone, this is Gretchen Gagel with Greatness. Just a warning that today's episode deals with some sensitive topics, specifically domestic violence and abuse. This is different from our usual subject matter and may be difficult for some listeners, so I wanted to put include a warning up front. With that out of the way, I think everyone can learn something from today's episode. Thank you.Years ago I watched a speaker write “vict” on a flipchart, and then make the point that two letters change this from “victim” to “victor”. We have all overcome challenges in our lives, some more horrific than others. Cathy Oddie, Family Violence Lived Experience Consultant, embodies the journey from victim to advocate, and I’m grateful that she shared her powerful story on the Greatness Podcast.

Do you experience frustration that no matter how much you encourage people to speak up you still feel that you’re not hearing everything you need to hear? You’re not alone. Megan Reitz, author of “Speak Up”, visited the Greatness podcast to share her research about the conversational patters we become stuck within both as people and as organizations; and how power and labels, real and imagined, filter what we hear and what we say. Megan shares research-based tips for how to listen with curiosity, not just a skill but a philosophy and one that is central to our work at Conversant.

Community – what does that word mean to you? To our team, community is critical to the vitality of an organization. It’s about focusing our energy and our actions to achieve a mutually important purpose. It’s about aligning our strategies and tactics based upon our common values. It’s about looking out for one another on the way to extraordinary success. Conversant Founder and Chairman Mickey Connolly shares great tips for how “connected leaders” effectively build community and unleash brilliance. 

We speak frequently of an organization’s purpose, but purpose is also relevant to an industry. Judo Bank Co-Founder and Co-CEO Joseph Healy argues in his latest book, Breaking the Banks, that the global banking industry has lost it’s purpose. Joseph joined the Greatest podcast to reflect upon why banking is one of the least trusted industries globally, discussing the systemic and cultural challenges faced. His perspective is relevant regardless of your industry. We as leaders need to keep in mind that our organization, our industry, serves a purpose in society, just as banking serves the economy by “pumping blood around the body, the economy”. 

One of the greatest challenges in creating an agile organization is driving urgency for the need to change. Covid-19 has created an urgent need to change. But what about two years from now? How can you, as a leader, create a nimble organization that is “proactive in reacting”, that embraces “wonder” and the urgent need to evolve? It was really fun to turn the tables on the Greatness podcast by having my associate, Max Affleck, interview me about what I learned on these topics during my recent PhD studies. I hope you enjoy my comments and find them useful!

How can leaders create learning organizations that enable people to achieve their greatest personal contribution? How can we as leaders not allow the stress of today’s situation to drive us back to the learned behaviors of a heroic culture?  These are the strategic concerns of today’s world discussed by Jim Motroni, Senior Partner with Conversant, during this compelling conversation on the Greatness podcast. Jim shares concrete tips for how leaders can create vibrant environments of innovation and co-creation. 

Can you help someone develop collaboration skills? Absolutely according to Francesca Gino, Harvard professor and author of Rebel Talent. Francesca joined the Greatness podcast to discuss how critical collaboration is in today’s disruptive business environment and the six training techniques to build collaboration skills in yourself and others. Francesca also shares the five secret talents of the rebels in your organization, and why having rebels is a good idea.