Episodes
Thank you for listening this far and meeting some of the amazing people I've had the honour and privilege of talking to. Right now I'm sitting back, imagining what's next. I'd like to take a moment to ask for some feedback and point you in some cool directions for how to engage while we're on a brief break. You're awesome and you're doing great. This show is brought to you by The Advice Trap, Michael Bungay Stanier’s latest book. You can access a wide range of tools to help...
Published 07/31/20
Published 07/31/20
I recorded this episode in early July 2020, one year since I stepped away from being CEO of Box of Crayons and handed that responsibility over to today’s guest, Dr. Shannon Minifie. Now, most so-called founder transitions end up on the rocky shores of defeat for two reasons. First, most founders are a little bit like me: kind of neurotic and egotistical and wanting to keep our fingers in the pie. And second, it’s just a really hard thing to hand over an organization that is in many ways an...
Published 07/27/20
One of the phrases that struck me when I was interviewing Tom Kolditz was when he said that “the US military is very egalitarian, very much in a meritocracy. People are expected to never lean on their rank. The rank gives them a certain set of responsibilities. But it doesn't give them any advantage in the framework that we operate in our military.” Tom rose to the rank of Brigadier General, which should give you some sense of his calibre as a leader. I’ve had the chance to get to know him...
Published 07/20/20
When you ask “what makes a leader?” you will hear back, almost immediately, “vision”. Show us the way! Shine the light! “Without vision, the people perish” or so it’s written... But, perhaps not. What if “vision” was overrated ... and that another leadership behaviour was shown to be much more important? Today I’m speaking to Gianpiero “GP” Petriglieri, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD, Europe’s preeminent business school. A recent article of his on HBR.org laid...
Published 07/16/20
I’ve been busy all my life. And quite frankly, I’ve enjoyed it. Teetering on over-commitment ...there’s an exhilaration to that. And gosh, I’m tired sometimes. Part of the self-growth work for me right now is creating space in my life to think, to regenerate, to allow what’s next to emerge. And, frankly, I need help because of my lifetime habit of filling my calendar. That’s why I’m talking to Juliet Funt today. Juliet is the CEO of White Space at Work, an organizational efficiency...
Published 07/13/20
Hard as it is to believe, We Will Get Through This is not the only awesome podcast around here. Really, it’s true. Once a season, I’ll be sharing an episode from another podcast I listen to and admire, and there’s no better place to start than with Dave Stachowiak’s Coaching for Leaders. I’ve been a guest four times, and that’s not a scheduling error on my part. It’s me delighting in being in conversation with a smart, prepared and engaged host. I asked Dave which episode he thought we...
Published 07/09/20
Bill Carrier is someone you’ve never heard of. Years ago, as a counterintuitive marketing strategy, he decided that he’d do no marketing. No website. No business card. No social media. You found out about Bill through word of mouth, and word of mouth only. I met him when we both worked with TED Fellows on a retreat, and we had the opportunity to work together. I was struck by his generosity, his big heart, and his wisdom. Bill is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West...
Published 07/06/20
I hope you enjoyed the conversation with Dave Snowden a few episodes ago. I loved it, although I admit I was a little intimidated by engaging in conversation with someone who has such a sharp mind and who’s thought about the challenges and possibilities of complexity for so long. You might have gotten to the end of that episode and asked ... “and now what?” Let me introduce you to today’s guest. Aaron Dignan is the author of one of the most exciting books that I’ve read in the last number...
Published 07/02/20
I originally invited Kerry, today’s guest, because she’s one of the world’s top financial bloggers. Truly. Her blog is one of the most visited websites in the world. But in setting up the call, I discovered that she had another story she could tell in the context of We Will Get Through This. It’s the experience of surviving one of the most virulent forms of breast cancer. Kerry’s an absolute pro at talking to the media ... but not about cancer. So this is a rare and precious conversation....
Published 06/29/20
I hope you’ve had that experience of walking into somewhere special; a place that has a resonance, and a capacity, and a potential. But where does that special something, that sacredness, come from? Is it just a trick of architecture? What role do we have in creating sacred space ... and why would we want to? Pamay Bassey is the CLO of Kraft Heinz and a lifelong learner who loves laughter, words, big ideas and serving her community. She is also the Chief Experience Officer of the My 52...
Published 06/25/20
Think one year ahead. You can likely do that. Think 15 years ahead, let’s say to 2035. You might just about be able to do that. Think 100 years ahead. Almost impossible. And 1000 years? And yet, if we don’t build our capacity to think beyond our timespan, we’re likely doomed. So, how to do that? I’ve been a member of an organization called The Long Now Foundation for ten years. They’re committed to long-term thinking. We’re 10,000 years into civilization. How do we act as stewards for...
Published 06/22/20
Cynefin! Say it with me ... Well, you probably can’t. Because it’s a Welsh word and you have to know how it’s said: Ku-NEV-in. My guest today is Dave Snowden, the creator of the Cynefin model. And the reason we’re learning a little bit of Welsh is because this is the model that helps us understand what it means to be operating within a complex system, and how that differs from ordered systems and chaos. It’s a framework that fundamentally changes how you understand the world. In my...
Published 06/18/20
How to have a good day. I for one want to know the answer to that. Now! Immediately! Now let me be clear. I don't want bland, predictable “there is no ‘i’ in innovation” type aphorisms.I want insights from science, so the changes I make are based in reality. So let me introduce you to Caroline Webb. She is an executive coach, author and speaker who specializes in showing people how to use insights from behavioural science to improve their professional lives. Her book is called –you got...
Published 06/15/20
The power of ritual is profound. It’s woven deep into the rhythms of societies, and its power lies in the marking of a transition, from one state to another. It often means a death of some sort: something needs to pass, before something new can arrive. But few of us are comfortable with death, literal or metaphoric. My guest today is Sarah Kerr,a ritual healing practitioner and death doula whose work supports the living, the dying, and the dead. She facilitates private and public healing...
Published 06/11/20
I love the power of thinking about your thinking. This is where sustainable learning truly happens. Not in the telling. Not in the doing. But in the reflection on what’s happening. When you see patterns, you learn to manage them. My guest today is Trevor Ragan, the founder of The Learner Lab, an educational website that helps unpack and share the science of learning and development. Trevor spends his time with thought leaders and researchers from the worlds of psychology and developmental...
Published 06/08/20
You know me well enough to know that I love a good question. But there are times, particularly in a crisis, when the questions you’re being asked feel impossible to answer. They ask for certainty and reassurance that you’re just not able to give. In that moment, you feel anxiety and uncertainty. What do you say to the unanswerable question? Ron Carucci has a suggestion. He is co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, and works with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change for...
Published 06/04/20
You know the marshmallow test, right? Some poor kid put in a room with a single marshmallow in front of them, and a choice: eat it now, or resist the temptation for 5 minutes and get a second marshmallow. Even though the research has been shown to be problematic, it’s illustrative: we so often take short-term, in-the-moment gratification that goes against our long-term interests. Bina Venkataraman is the editorial page editor of The Boston Globe and a fellow at New America. Before joining...
Published 06/01/20
The odds are you’re not an elite athlete. I know, for sure and without a doubt, that I’m not. When I am playing sports or working out, the thing that’s mostly going through my head is how do I keep myself from quitting, because I almost always have that desire to quit halfway through. The way champions like Bonnie St. John do it, in part, is by building micro-resilience. Bonnie is a former Olympian, and the first African Americanto win medals in a winter Olympic competition, taking home...
Published 05/28/20
I have three broad categories of books in my life. First, there are the books that come and go pretty quickly. They’re just not very good. There are quite a lot of those. The second bucket are ones I read and think, “This is a pretty good book. There’s a smart idea buried in here.” And then the final category is made up of the types of books I strive to write. Powerful, designed, elegant and stirring. These are the books I keep on my top shelf, that travel with me when I move. Dr. Alexander...
Published 05/25/20
It’s one of the stories that doesn’t quite seem real. Man has a really rough time in his life, starts a blog to cheer himself up--1,000 awesome things--it blows up, the book versions sell millions, the TEDx talk is seen by more millions, and he goes on to write more intriguing books, begin compelling podcasts and be a sought after keynote speaker. My friend Neil Pasricha is this self-same man. He’s a friend of mine, and we’ve spent time walking Toronto, visiting second-hand bookstores,...
Published 05/21/20
For many years, I did five year plans. I'd sit there and do my best to map out what the next five years were going to be like. I would imagine great things: bold ambitions and brilliant outcomes. The other day as I was sorting through old boxes of paper, I came across some of these plans. What was both hilarious and slightly depressing about them is just how little resemblance those plans bear to what actually happened. Really understanding how to think and implement strategically is...
Published 05/18/20
We Will Get Through This returns next week with another intriguing series of episodes. We'll be exploring how to see around corners, how to build micro-resilience, how to be invincible and so much more. This show is brought to you by The Advice Trap, Michael Bungay Stanier’s latest book. You can access a wide range of tools to help #TameYourAdviceMonster at www.TheAdviceTrap.com If you’d like to spend more time with Michael and people he admires, sign up for The Year of Living Brilliantly....
Published 05/11/20
It turns out, somewhat to my surprise, that the body isn’t just a nifty thing that carries around your head. There’s more to it than that. When I want to understand the power of emotions in a way that someone who lives in his head might understand, the person I go to is Dr Robert Biswas-Diener. Robert’s a psychologist, a researcher, and a coach, and he focuses on positive topics, such as happiness, courage, and social support. He’s also the author of a number of wonderful ooks, includes The...
Published 05/04/20
I like hyphenates. People whose journey has meant that they’ve got a bit of this and a bit of that. People who’ve taken expertise from one world into another. People whose journey to now makes no sense and total sense at the same time.  I’m a bit like that (so confirmation bias, I guess). So to is  Dr. Edy Greenblatt. She is a resilience pioneer, a work/life balance expert, and a coach supervisor. She has a Masters degree in psychology, and a joint PhD in organizational behavior from the...
Published 05/04/20