Being Human

#227 Communicating Beyond Language - with Richard Newman

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This week, I speak with Richard Newman, one of the world's foremost communication trainers.
Richard's extraordinary career journey began with a stint in a Tibetan monastery. The challenges he faced there set him on a path to helping others to communicate powerfully. 
We talk:
teaching monks that spoke no English
overcoming his autism
turning his business around in the middle of the pandemic
his potent morning routine
how communication starts with mindset
Links:UKBodyTalk - Richard's websiteRichard's LinkedIn profileRichard's Instagram profile

#226 My Meditation Journey (So Far) - with Richard Atherton

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This week, I go solo to share my experiences of the last year practising Vedic meditation.
Previous guest Jillian Lavender first introduced me to this style of meditation in her book 'Why Meditate?'. My new habit has transformed my life and especially my well-being.
I share:
How Vedic meditation is so easy
Sleep vs meditation
What is and what is not meditation
Links:Jillian's book - Why Meditate? Because It WorksJillian's London Meditation CentreNarada's online courses

#225 One People One Planet - with Michael Glauser

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This week, I sit down with Michael Glauser, author and Professional Practice Professor at the University of Utah.During a stint working in the Middle East, Michael began a study of Islam. It sparked a quest to find parallels across all the major religions and philosophical traditions. It led to One People One Planet: 6 Universal Truths for Being Happy Together, Michael’s manifesto for happiness and a path to healing the divisions emerging in many of our societies today.We talk:
From academic to building a 600-person company
Giving up the ego
To judge or not to judge
Saving a marriage with one question
Learning from Confucius
Links:One People One Planet - The Book

#224 Re-Humanize Now - with Chuck Blakeman

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This week, I sit down with Chuck Blakeman, serial entrepreneur, international speaker, best-selling business author and world-renowned business advisor.Chuck is on a mission to create a world where all members of companies share in the creative process of building the company together. He is a man who pulls no punches in calling out the current de-humanizing corporate paradigm—his message is a true tour-de-force.
We talk:
Corporations as Ponzi schemes
You can't just fire the bosses
Thinking for yourself
Capitalism not industrialism
The Participation Age
Links:Chuck's WebsiteThe Crankset Group

#223 The Seismic Shift in Leadership - with Michelle K. Johnston, PhD.

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This week, I sit down with Michelle K. Johnston, PhD., author and professor of management at Loyola University in New Orleans.We discuss her book, The Seismic Shift in Leadership: How to Thrive in a New Era of Connection, and how the overriding imperative for leaders today is to connect; to themselves and others.
We talk:
From pantsuits to heels
Dropping perfection
How to build connection
The power of ritual
Lessons from a great quarterback
Links:The Seismic Shift in Leadership - The BookDr. Johnston's Website

#222 Bright Lights, Big Empty - with Ron Baker

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This week, I sit down with Ron Baker, author of Bright Lights, Big Empty.When I first accepted Ron onto the Zoom call for this episode, I was blown away by how extraordinary youthful Ron looked for a man in his early sixties. Ron is a man who has very visibly done The Work. I was also profoundly moved by how loving, and present Rob is. The conversation stretched me in many ways.We talk:
Walking away from a career in the performing arts
Building his School of Self-Mastery
How his business partner became a channel for Gabriel
Scanning our past for trauma and the good
How the split we're seeing in society right now was expected
We go all the way out there with this one, and it's well worth the ride!
 
Links:Ron's WebsiteBright Lights, Big Empty - The Book

#221 Participate! - with Roberto Martinez

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This week, I sit down with Roberto Martinez, co-founder of the software company Nearsoft.
As a follower of famous business radical Ricardo Semler, Roberto built a company culture based on:
No formal hierarchy
Meaning and belonging as foundations
Transparency and decentralisation
The number one message from Roberto that I took away from our conversation is that if you want a vibrant, humane culture, you've got to find ways to have everyone participate. We talk:
We talk:
Cooking for the team
High participation *and* fast decisions
Handling transparency in larger organisations
Letting go of hierarchical mental models

#220 You’re a Leader, Now What? - with Mick Spiers

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This week, I sit down with Mick Spiers, long-time executive in the world of urban mobility and author of the new book You're a Leader, Now What? We know that only 16% of people genuinely love their job and like their boss. People spend up to 1/3 of their lives in jobs and workplaces where they struggle to find meaning and purpose.  Mick sees the way to change this as being through building competent, inspiring leaders. He's focused on helping leaders early in their careers. If you're a new leader, this episode could be the one for you.
We talk:
Building your own leadership model
The five factors humans need to thrive
The perils of using "actually"
Going beyond active listening
Leader as the architect of rituals
Links:Mick's Website

#219 Well-being: born or made? - with Professor Meike Bartels

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This week, I sit down with Meike Bartels, Professor in Genetics and Wellbeing at the Department of Biological Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She's also the president of the International Positive Psychology Association.Professor Bartels is one of the world's leading scholars of the science of well-being. She looks at what aspects of well-being are innate, what we can train and what's outside our control. We talk:
What we mean by well-being
The top external factors affecting our happiness
Habits for well-being
What we get wrong with well-being programmes
Bringing well-being awareness to your leadership
Links:International Positive Psychology Association

#218 The Paper Tiger Syndrome - with Rebecca Ward

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This week, I sit down with Rebecca Ward, author of The Paper Tiger Syndrome.
Can you remember a time when you felt genuinely fearless? When you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that your world was safe? For the average person, consistently experiencing that kind of freedom sounds like wishful thinking. But what if that weren't the case? What if most fears and anxieties were just paper tigers?
Rebecca and I discuss how to deal with our pager tigers, including:
Why we hide our emotional pain
Grieving past injuries
Connecting to our Vegas nerve
The soul in the body
A new 'voo'
Links:The Paper Tiger Syndrome - The BookRebecca's Website