Being Human

#217 The Tao Of Inner Peace - with Diane Dreher

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This week, I sit down with Diane Dreher, author of The Tao of Inner Peace.
Translated more often than any other book except the Bible, the Tao Te Ching has been a spiritual guide for centuries, helping millions find peace within themselves, with each other, and with the natural world around them.Diane's The Tao of Inner Peace adapts the principles of Tao to today's world, showing us how to integrate the many facets of our everyday lives to create a balanced, dynamic, harmonious whole.
We talk:
The power of savouring
Healing society's divisions
Overcoming chronic stress
The abundance of nature
15 minutes in the forest
Links:Diane's Website

#216 The Power of Ritual - with Kath Blackham

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This week, I sit down with Kath Blackham, CEO of the revolutionary Australian digital transformation agency VERSA.
She has used VERSA as a platform to move the needle on the things she's most passionate about—mental health in the workplace, diversity, flexibility and using technology for good. She famously instituted a four-day week, anathema within the crazy-hours digital agency sector. By creating a swathe of people-first rituals in her business, retention has gone up, sick days and mental health issues are down, and profit has spiked.
We talk:
The experiments that failed
Happiness first
Mindful check-ins
Three o'clock walkies
Building culture remote-first
Links:VERSA

#215 Citizens Not Leaders - with Federico Zuppa & Jorge Silva

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This week, I sit down with Federico Zuppa and Jorge Silva, the founders of the Argentinian self-managing software company 10Pines.
10Pines is a company with a horizontal organisational structure, where nobody is above anyone else. They make decisions based on consent, not consensus or voting, making for a dynamic, highly adaptive culture..
We talk:
Developing citizens, not leaders
Choosing your own salary 
Getting things done when all work is voluntary
The hard parts of being self-managed 
The temptations of being a boss
Links:10Pines' culture page

#214 The Uneducated Economist

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This week, I sit down with fellow podcaster and YouTuber The Uneducated Economist.
Four years ago, whilst selling lumber during the day, he spent hours researching economics in his free time. He tried to share his insights with his colleagues until one day; a colleague confessed that it was all going over their heads and that perhaps he should start a blog. The blog became a YouTube channel that now has ninety thousand subscribers.
 
Although he left formal education at high school, he takes complex economic issues and breaks them down so anyone can understand and have a conversation about them.
We talk:
Economics 101
Debt as an addiction
Prospects for the dollar
What's happening with inflation
Quitting alcohol and climbing out of debt
Links:Simon's WebsiteSimon's YouTube Channel

#213 Leadership in Complexity and Change - with Dr Sharon Varney

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This week, I sit down with leadership and change consultant Dr Sharon Varney. She recently published 'Leadership in Complexity and Change: For a World in Constant Motion.'Sharon is adept at making complexity science accessible and has a wealth of experience applying it in business.
We talk:
How starlings demonstrate complexity
Increasing your 'complexity aperture'
Change management vs managing in change
The importance of slowness
Ethics in a complex world 
Links:Sharon's Website - space for learning

#212 Overcome And Get It Done – with Jamie Dixon

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This week, I sit down with Shanghai-based coach and author Jamie Dixon. As well as being a great storyteller himself, Jamie is also someone who helps others share their own stories. Our conversation is one of two halves: at first, we look at productivity and how he managed to write his latest book in 24 hours flat. In the second, we explore the habits of great storytelling and how you can use them to engage and influence others. 
We talk:- Getting things done without willpower- How to say no to the boss- How experiments fuel productivity- The art of relating- How to use story habits to influence others
 
Links:Jamie's WebsiteJamie's Books

#211 The Still Point – with Kevin Krenitsky, MD

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This week's guest is former medical doctor, corporate retiree, and spiritual adept Kevin Krenitsky. Seven years ago, he left life as a successful executive to devote himself entirely to going within. He recently released The Still Point: The Simplicity of Spiritual Enlightenment.
According to Kevin, we are amidst the most significant wave of awakening or self-realisation this planet has ever seen. Our unconscious living has not only created stress, anxiety, wars, and famine; our choices have brought us to the edge of mass destruction. He believes there's a better way, one in which we can live our lives in alignment with our true selves. 
We talk:- Following the Direct Path- Our addiction to experience- How we can't solve the mind with the mind- Decoupling thoughts and feelings- The 'journey' trap
 
Links:The Still Point - The BookKevin's Website

#210 Complexity for Business and Society – with Chris Mowles

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week we see the return of a former guest to the podcast, Professor of Complexity and Management at The University of Hertfordshire Chris Mowles. He's back on the podcast to talk about his new book, Complexity: A Key Idea for Business and Society.
 
Drawing on the natural and social sciences, he describes how complexity models are helpful but insufficient for our understanding of complex reality. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, he explains how, whenever humans are involved, it will be 'predictably unpredictable' whether we like it or not. But rather than this being a cause for despair, Chris emphasises how understanding complexity can give us more options for action.
 
We talk: - Handling the discomfort of uncertainty - Ethics in complexity - Sources of group resilience - Unstable stability - There is no system!
 
Links:Complexity: A Key Idea for Business and Society - The BookChris' University of Hertfordshire Page

#209 The Golden Rule – with Tom van der Lubbe

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This week we're releasing a talk I did with friend of the show Tom van der Lubbe at the Forward Summit, a conference dedicated to redefining leadership and management to create happier people and successful organizations.
 We talk:- Applying The Golden Rule in business- Why being small is beautiful- Leading through your frustrations
 
Links:Management 3.0

#208 Everybody Matters – with Bob Chapman

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This week's episode is very special to me, Bob Chapman, a man who's been a personal inspiration for many years. Bob is the award-winning CEO of Barry-Wehmiller and author of the critically acclaimed book Everybody Matters.
Bob's life changed after a friend asked him what dream he most feared taking to his grave. This conversation led him to ditch his traditional management approach to start treating his team members as if they were each his own precious child.
We talk:- Leadership as listening- Validating people's dignity- Better financial metrics than Buffet- Human wealth, not economic wealth- Flipping the frame
Links:Everybody Matters - The BookThe Privilege of Leadership