Build Up One Another

In this episode, David Moore, retired senior officer with the CAF, shares practical insights leading teams on complex missions when failure is not an option and you cannot control who lives and who dies. Faced with this humility, leadership gets really real, really fast.

The bedrock of David’s influence lies in principle-based negotiations and leading relationally. We talk about the accountability to your people, and what to do when there is misalignment between those above and those on the ground. David drills down into practical examples of developing clear strategy, methods and action plans that drive effective teamwork and outcomes-focus work from both his military and civilian consulting roles.

Building on over 40 years of experience effecting complex change, David has recently codified this operational program in a new co-authored book called “Change Driver” which comes with a practical workbook for applying his principles-based methodology.  I have no doubt that David's book "Change Driver" is going to be a game changer in your lives.  I so encourage you to listen and check out David in the links below. 

You may not be a CEO of a tech venture, but you are the CEO of your life venture. 

In this episode, Dave Powsner and Mark Thirman share practical insights from their experience mentoring Boston venture companies.  Given that ventures are high risk, failure is common. Building on this, Dave and Mark launched “Failure – the Podcast” to shed light on the fact that failure isn’t just common for ventures but part of everyday life for us all.

We batted around what makes a good CEO and landed on being able to edit and sell, and have a thick skin. I urge you to dig deeper here and not take this at face value. Both these talents enable you to discern information, prioritize actions and see people for who they are. These same skills are in fact key to nurturing your allies and navigating your adversaries. And of course, thick skin keeps emotions in check and reality in focus 

Easier said than done?  Sure it is.  Making good decisions can be challenging especially when the going gets tough.  But as a devoted fan of the movie Frozen, Dave reminds us all we have to keep 'putting the right foot forward.'  So true!

Leaving a good corporate career to nurture and raise your children?  This is Trisha Enriquez’ story, and maybe it’s meant to be yours too.

I love Trisha’s candidness about dreaming to do "something’ and how this evolved in a rather random walk to today where she is now the content creator developing and monetizing her brand as “No Tummy Mommy”. Her business has at its focal point her children. Her brand centres on designing her life as a mother, fitness expert and business woman. The part I really love is how the business came together. Trisha even admits that she stalled ‘starting something’ because she thought she had to first get her plan right. I think so many women can relate. But what unfolded was following her purpose on who, not what, she wanted to be in life.  Who she wanted to be as a mother and a role model by involving her children in everything from fitness to the business.  What’s truly special is how her daughter has been a foil back to Trisha along this shared  journey. Seven years on and with a matching yoga apparel line in the works, this mother-daughter team is building "something' most beautiful and enduring - their relationship!

FOLLOW - TRISHA ENRIQUEZ – NO TUMMY MOMMY

Brad Eager is a straight-forward unassuming guy who can walk into a room of 150 rambunctious distracted teenagers and within minutes – the room goes quiet, all eyes are on Brad - they’re listening.  He’s got their attention.   He also got my attention. Clearly, Brad knows something about leadership, and I wanted to bring him on because this episode has the chance to change your life.

We’ve all heard about being intentional and working with the end in mind. Brad’s super clear on both. He’s here to lead and coach people relationally.

For Brad, relational leadership means meeting one another where they are, not where we want them to be. It’s seeing the humanity in each person - without being distracted or harbouring hidden agendas. With no purpose other than being with one another to share meaningful work and meaningful lives.

Brad points out that one has to earn the right to be heard, especially with teens. That this takes time and can feel hugely inconvenient too. And yet at its core, it’s simple – humans yearn to be truly seen and valued. And let’s face it, our adult world isn’t much different.  We’re all just more sophisticated actors.

We live in a noisy world.  People are either jostling for status and position, or trying to change the world.  What if you began leading relationally?  I guarantee that you'll make an impact and leave a legacy.

FOLLOW Brad Eager

- brad.eager@themeetinghouse.com

- brad.eager@gapyearcoaching.com

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- Apple iTune  https://apple.co/2LYPLub

I’m so stoked to bring you Laura Williams - entrepreneur, lawyer, speaker, HR business consultant and workplace investigator.  We recorded this episode pre-Covid-19, and Laura's wisdom on valuing people in your businesses couldn’t come at a better time.  Here you’ll hear the recurring themes around the importance of being intentional and engaged in authentic two-way communication. We go deep into unpacking what being intentional really means and how authenticity is perceived. Laura also got me thinking to back my time as an “IBMer” and now part of the University of Toronto, my pride of association – a key hallmark of organizations where people feel valued. We delve into corporations as evolving entities with teams made up of more or less strangers, that morph over time and need to be calibrated to sustain high functioning performance.  I love that Laura points out that certain conflicts at work should be expected. This is diversity of opinion in action, which when mixed with grace and a good dose of mutual respect, can lead to incredibly experiences and outcomes.  I especially love how Laura shines the light on her mother, her hero -and whose love changed peoples' hearts.  Laura’s a real thought leader in her field. She has won numerous awards and is regularly interviewed by media on HR Law and Consulting.  I so encourage you to read her recent posts on how this all plays out in our new world. Links are all below!

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Folks – we have an awesome heavy weight today. Debora Bielecki started her career in airline cargo logistics and sales. Now the hull of an aircraft is anything but glamorous. But it was there she began honing her talents moving humans and cargo that caught the attention of HP.   Over her 15 years at HP and hitting way above average put her on the radar of senior executives at HP leading to senior leadership roles.  This interview is full of insights on how highly effective leaders work with people - here's a sampling just to wet your appetite!

Deb reminds us you don’t get to choose your teams but you still need to own accomplishing the mission.  She shares a story when she led a war room with an adversarial counterpart. Debora has a high threshold and is diplomatic - I think many women can relate. But how she brought this adversary on her side is insightful. Hint it had to do with a calm voice, a bit of humor and not presuming people know they are bad actors..

And for all the entrepreneurs that listen, you have to listen to Debora’s experience being an intrapreneur.   She will give you a sound reality check on how challenging it is to innovate within a large company even from the inside and how important internal champions are in validating the business case. Only then are the doors to the market unlocked!

Today Debora brings this wealth of experience full circle consulting for technology venture companies and serving as a Board Member to the Bank of Canada.  Tap into this amazing woman's wisdom by listening here today!

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A great episode is full of gems of wisdom on leading as a woman.  In this interview, we hear how Emily Moore went from having potential to a leading as a managing director in a global engineering company.  From an early age, Emily knew she loved bringing people together and organizing everything!  She owns being that bossy little girl, or in man-speak - the little general organizing her troops. In building her career, we unpack how she balances gender dichotomies, such as doing vs. delegating and being assertive vs. aggressive. I came away inspired by how she builds trust and loyalty in a male pack. Emily also shares her strength and humility when as women, we can be kinder to ourselves, especially during times of stress and overload.

Emily honours key heroes on her sidelines who helped shape who she has become.  What struck me here were the deeply engaged ways her leaders connected with her. Emily is now building the next generation of engineering leaders as the Director of Troost iLEAD at the University of Toronto. Amazing to see her journey evolve from organizing people to now connecting at this individual human level that pulls in people and builds community.  

FOLLOW Emily Moore

As a former music industry exec turned creative entrepreneur, Jan Mehlhose felt pulled to create his own art. And why not? He had all the right connections. So he recorded and released his first tracks. But the fans didn’t show up.  The realization began to sunk in… it was a complete waste of time and money. Moreover, the resulting failure was very public. Jan leads us through an incredible dance of vulnerability and courage as he wrestled with deep questions and his loss of identify.  Emerging strong, he now sees his unique talents and skills in being the business artist. Now as the founder and host of The Business Artist Podcast, he satisfies his creative drive and is living Andy Warhol quote in “being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art”.  Join us as we discover how Jan balanced periods of action with periods of reflection to create space and time in his relationship with himself and his world.

FOLLOW Jan Mehlhose

If children are like sponges, what happens when they are born into a sea of sorrow?  Meet Stephen Lew.  When a family tragedy struck on his first birthday, his world shifted forever.  As his family struggled to heal, his birthdays were now a painful secret, not to be celebrated. Seeking a sense of belonging, Stephen felt the quiet suffering of others.   He looked externally to find comfort in a shared experience. But learning how happiness feels is an inside out experience.  It cannot be handed to you.   So Stephen realized he needed to “get naked with happiness” and that he did just that launching his namesake podcast.   Join us and learn Stephen’s habits and tactics on his journey in his pursuit of happiness and spreading happiness to millions around the world through his School of Positive Psychology!

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Mike Jarman could see the writing on the wall. He had seen this show before. A big fish was about to acquire a smaller fish in the banking industry. In another 6 months, fear and anxiety would set in amongst co-workers, but not him… not this time. After 30 years in automotive financing, Mike spotted a north star pointing him in a new direction.  Automotive financing has always been a tough industry.  Banks don’t trust sellers; sellers don’t trust buyers; and buyers don’t trust credit agencies.  Now the same credit financing that undercut the housing industry in 2009 was moving to its next target – automotive.  Mike saw this as an opportunity to launch TurboPass, a fin-tech start-up. TurboPass has aims not only to re-store trust, but also to disrupt the likes of FIDO and other credit scoring agencies to put personalized consumer data back in the hands of its rightful owners.   Join us as Mike describes his journey, his vision and his heroes who shaped where he's going and who he's become!

Mike Jarman 

The world isn’t fair, but that never stopped movers and shakers like Lucy La Grassa. Lucy had a conviction to let the world know that ‘kids have important things to say”. So she set out to provide a means for children to write books for other children.   Sounds like a familiar enough story today but this was disruptive back in 1989 when the publishing industry owned all the channels to market, the internet was not mainstream and kids were… well, not seen as valued creative content generators and consumers. But that didn’t stop Lucy. Tapping into her ancestral merchant genes, it’s not surprising that Lucy was compelled to navigate uncharted waters to build Storybook Publishing. Driven by a deep ethical responsibility to the children, Lucy was intentional in building her business and its partnerships on principles of diversity and inclusion.   In doing so, Lucy nurtured enduring relationships with partners including school boards, professional writers, banks, publishers and distributors, and airlines. No doubt these enabled not only Lucy and the partners to go far, but importantly all these creative children to shape who they became.

Show Notes

Life is part theatre and we have different roles on that stage.  As a corporate lawyer, mother and opera singer, Vanessa Grant describes how she creates trust through all her roles in her relationships in life.  Trust underpins all healthy human relationships. And in a profession that bears a heavy burden of being paid to be perfect, building trust is an art. Vanessa takes us on her journey as a young associate making her first mistakes. She honours her senior partners who role modelled principled leaderships that built her up and influenced her to become the lawyer, mother and friend.  We draw insightful perspectives on intelligence & experience, shame  & empathy, and ability & character. Using her experience in theatre, Vanessa literally and figuratively can step into another person’s shoes.  From a human-centred approach, build space for all to share worries and fears so that she can craft enduring agreements that serve our relationships with one another.

Show Notes