Being Human

#130 Feel Fully - with Pete Walker

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My guest this week, Pete Walker, is a man who has travelled far physically and metaphorically. A Vietnam War veteran, he sought spiritual salvation in India before finally confronting his inner grief at an Encounter group workshop.Learning to feel and grieve deeply set Pete on a path to dealing with his Complex PTSD. He has since written several books on these themes and treated hundreds of others as a deep feeling therapist.Pete and I have walked similar paths and talk frankly about the joys and pain of deep work.
We cover:- Pete's LSD trip that opened new possibilities- His path to grieving- Complex PTSD explained- Getting started with grieving- Why real men cry
Enjoy!
To your humanity,RichardLinks:Pete Walker's BooksPete Walker's Website

#129 Google, Eggs and Inspiration - with Craig Fenton

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Perhaps the phrase 'A Man of Many Hats' was created for my guest this week. A Google Exec, investor, record label boss, YouTuber, I give you Kiwi-in-London Craig Fenton.Craig began life as a barrister, then switched to consulting before landing as Director of Strategy and Operations at Google in the UK.We talk: - Phone-only podcasting- Managing multiple pursuits- The evolving Google culture- Discovering music talent- The upside of Glass-holesEnjoy!To your humanity,RichardLinks:Big Community RecordsCoffee, Eggs & InspirationGoogle

#128 Facing The Wolf - with Theresa Sheppard Alexander

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode, I speak with therapist Theresa Sheppard Alexander, author of 'Facing The Wolf: Inside The Process of Deep Feeling Therapy'.Theresa shares her story of finding Primal Therapy in her early twenties and how she helps clients climb down ‘the staircase of feeling’ to experience their deepest pain, and ultimately, to find more joy and light in their lives.I found this one of my most challenging conversations so far on Being Human. As a veteran of Primal Therapy myself, I reveal more about my own journey than I have in any other public conversation.We talk:- The benefits of 'descending into feeling'- Getting your whole self back- The problem with cognitive therapy - Will I become just a puddle of tears?- Therapy and sexualityEnjoy!To your humanity,RichardLinks:Theresa's website'Facing The Wolf' book 

#127 Moose Heads on the Table - with Lisa Gill

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/My guest this week is Lisa Gill, host of the ground-breaking podcast Leaderphormosis. She’s also co-author of the just-released 'Moose Heads on the Table: Stories About Self-Managing Organisations from Sweden'.Lisa has helped businesses across Europe to let go of their boss culture. Her approach, along with fellow liberator Karin Tenelius, is to focus on creating different forms of dialogues between employees within companies, as opposed to looking at complicated the structures and processes.We talk:- The benefits of moving to boss-free cultures- How to make decisions without managers- How to sustain self-management or Agile transformations- How going autonomous is no easy ride- The meaning of bringing our whole selves to workEnjoy!To your humanity,RichardLinks:Moose Heads On The Table - The BookTuff Leadership TrainingLeadermorphosis

#126 5-Minute Selling - with Alex Goldfayn

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/My return guest this week, Alex Goldfayn, is back with a new book '5-Minute Selling', which is already an Amazon bestseller.Now, I hate sales. I've always hated sales and yet it's an absolutely critical skill in my business life. In fact, it's crucial even if you're not a proper salesperson, but someone who needs to be able to influence and persuade others.What I love about Alex his approach is that it's the antithesis of 'oily' or 'pushy'. At its core, sales is about connecting with people and asking them if you can help.With that as the ethos, we talk:- The mindset to have you make that call- Why we hate sales and how to learn to love it- The Minimal Viable Proactive Sales Habit (MVPSH) ;)- Why the phone is so important- Why system trumps individual actionsEnjoy!To your humanity,RichardLinks:5-Minute SellingAlex's Website

#125 Surfing the Big Shift - with John Hagel

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest, John Hagel, is a 40-year veteran of Silicon Valley. John co-founded the Center for the Edge in 2007. The Center has brought insights that have helped me to understand the megatrends in the economy throughout my career. He was the first to identify the growing 'topple rate', i.e. how when large companies gain leading market positions; they are then losing them at an increasing rate.I’m delighted that I'm getting to share his takes on the current state of capitalism in this episode.We talk:- The Big Shift- The importance of passion- The problem with the Learning Organisation- Creation Spaces- Management consultants - problem or solution?Enjoy!Links:John's websiteThe Power of Pull

#124 Spotify Culture - with Henrik Kniberg

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/From his cabin on an island off the coast of Sweden, Henrik Kniberg, author of the viral 'Spotify Culture' video, joins me in this week's episode to share what he learned as a top Agile Coach at Spotify.Henrik is a creative powerhouse with prodigious talent as a musician, coach, author and developer. He brings these skills together to transform the organisations with which he works.In this episode, we talk:- Teams 'self-aligning' for scale- Patient leadership- Why we draw- Achieving Agile Rhythm- Dealing with technical debt  Enjoy! Links:Spotify Culture Video Agile Product Ownership in a NutshellFriendly Guide to Climate ChangeBooks by Henrik

#123 Building the Joyful Organisation - with Richard Sheridan

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This episode's guest, Rich Sheridan, was a VP in a successful software firm in Michigan when he brought his daughter to work. She was impressed. She figured her Dad must have been very important, as for anything to get done, he had to give his say so. He was "The Answer Man". And yet for Rich, this was a devastating moment. He was a hero in a hero culture. The only way to scale Hero Organisations is to scale the hero, which would mean longer hours for Rich and less time with his daughters.This moment set Rich on a path to ultimately build Menlo Innovations, a firm built on a foundation of joy.In this episode, we talk:- how to kill meetings permanently- the power of pairing- managing the system not the people- equipping people to say no to curveballs- how to make more babies!Enjoy!Links:Joy, IncThe Chief Joy OfficerMenlo Innovations

#122 Make Your Business Happy - with Lars Kure Juul

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Nicknamed "The Gentle Giant from Denmark" from his time resolving conflicts in a troubled part of Asia, my guest this week, Lars Kure Juul, is a gifted facilitator. With his book 'Organizational Happiness', Lars is on a mission to improve our experience of working life - and especially how to sell happiness to your CFO.In this episode, we talk:- compassion- strengths-based leadership walking away- unlocking potential- why transformation doesn't workEnjoy!Links:Motivational Landscape siteFree strengths test

#121 The Agile CEO - with Mark Creighton

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Late last year, my guest this week, Mark Creighton, CEO of Avado, listened to a proposal from his CTO to bring the Agile practices into his management team. Although a bit sceptical, Mark accepted the challenge.They shifted from a 90-minute weekly management team meeting to a daily stand-up, plus an end-of-week retrospective.This tweak to their practices had a significant impact on Mark's leadership style. It was also instrumental in their successful navigation of the COVID crisis.In this episode, we talk:- Agile for Management- Leading with vulnerability- Saving 50% of planned redundancies- What the COVID recovery should really meanEnjoy!To your humanity,RichardLinks: Avado's webiste