In The Business of Healthy Masculinity High Performance through caring with Cornell Thomas
hello, hello, how are you?
I’m back with episode #10 of this new conversation and I would LOVE to understand:
I’d also appreciate your honest feedback however you answer the above question.
I realised over the past week that around half of you subscribers know me from previous iterations about half probably don’t fully know me. To that end I wanted to ask, what is your favourite music / genres? Hit reply and let me know.
Mine is trance/dance music, and I will start sharing a ‘tune of the week’ in the hope that it gives you a minute or two of joy, as it does for me :)
Please meet my next guest, Cornell Thomas
I have known Cornell for several years and he is genuinely one of THE most inspiring, humble, passionate, and impactful humans I am grateful to know. A bit more about him:
* Cornell Thomas is an incredible speaker, facilitator, and all-around human being who has written about six books. One of his books is called Extraordinary: The Distance Between Good and Great.
* He is the son of Bobby (a police officer who passed away when Cornell was four) and Tina Thomas.
* He is a husband to Melissa and a father to Bryce and Nia.
* He travels all over the world to speak about a positive mindset, loving yourself, and “not being a jerk to other human beings”.
* He has a background in basketball and still trains kids for the sport because it contains many life lessons.
* He is doing more speaking in schools, in addition to his work facilitating and speaking in corporations and businesses.
He is a motivational speaker, runs company, executive off-sites, has a landmark ‘every quarter counts’ leadership programme derived from his experience in basketball, and does amazing work motivating and uplifting the next generation of school-age young people.
You can reach Cornell on the following:
Website - https://cornellthomas.com/
Email - cornellthomas365@gmail.com
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cornell-thomas-36689340/
Cornell is one of the impact partners that makes up the Radicality.co.uk ecosystem so if you are looking for high-impact, highly-engaging speaker or facilitator, let’s you and I chat. garry.turner@radicality.co.uk.
A few key reflections that I took away from this conversation to whet your appetite:
“And if you learn how to lead, you realize it’s like this ongoing thing in leadership and the best leaders continue to learn. The worst leaders know it already and that’s what you know as a toxic environment. You can’t tell them anything. I’ve declined people that have asked for executive coaching because I’ve told them to their face, “you know it already, you don’t need me.” - Cornell Thomas
For most of my adult work career I have been surrounded by low self-worth men, also known as leaders within their organisation, who are terrified not to be seen to have all the answers.
I’m not blaming them, because I have been there. Our worth is so wrapped up in the next job, the next payrise, the next house upgrade, that we have to operate with this facade of ‘knowing it all.’ Indeed the ‘know-it-all’ mask is one of 9 masks written about by Lewis Howes in his book The Mask of Masculinity.
We men need spaces to be able to reflect on our behaviours, and I am pleased to make you aware that a new monthly call to ‘explore healthier masculinity within business spaces’ will commence on the first Monday of Jan 2026. Email garry.turner@radicality.co.uk if interested to join.
Buck against the fake societal divides
“I just feel that the world is created to divide and the people that understand that and buck against it, and don’t follow it, those are usually the more kind-hearted and open minded people” - Cornell Thomas
To what extent is the above true in your experience, both inside and outside of business spaces? For me it IS proven time and time again.
It’s not like people wake up and think “I’m going to a fear-based leader, or I want to control people,’” but the way works is designed around urgency and slowing down being viewed as weakness can lead to adverse behaviours.
To what extent would you challenge, agree, or anything else with the above?
The ‘prison’ of work, and at times our own minds
“Life doesn’t have to be a prison. Your company doesn’t have to be a prison. You can still be productive and not have it as a prison.” - Cornell Thomas
I find this reflection super helpful Cornell, not least because the metaphorical prisons of work are NOT delivering the most effective outcomes; for people, for the planet, or even profit. Gallup stats show us repeatedly, and year on year, that we get at max 21% of human beings’ best work.
That is utter madness to me, but as Garry Ridge shared on episode #5, being intentional and committed to building high-performing and engaging workplaces is HARD work, and too few are willing to put in/INVEST in that work.
What are you thinking, feeling, and what are your thoughts?
Is asking “What’s the ROI on caring” helpful?
“It doesn’t make money. It doesn’t make money. Why are we going to do something that doesn’t make money? What’s the ROI on this? What, it makes people feel better? We make people feel like they’re in a safe space? That doesn’t make money.” - Cornell Thomas
Again, Cornell drops clarity and truth-bombs like few I know.
If you are a senior or executive leader, can you imagine caring AND making money? Or does money take priority over caring?
Be really honest with yourself, and if you are feeling brave, I would love to hear from you in the comments.
I didn’t always care before money. I spent the first 35 years of my life not really caring about myself, let alone anyone else, as I sought to accumulate in line with what I had been educated and socialised with.
I now know it is always YES/AND, and very rarely either/or.
What are you thinking, feeling, and what are your thoughts?
The battle of comparison - The freedom of BEing ourselves
As a final except to whet your appetite from this amazing conversation, Cornell shares:
“This battle of comparison all the time. I’ve got to be as good as this person who’s filtered up. This isn’t even a real human being. It’s like comparing yourself to AI. I’m not going to compare myself to AI. AI is perfect. Life is not perfect. We’re not perfect beings. I can compare myself to who Cornell was yesterday, who Cornell was last week. Am I a better husband? Am I a better father? Am I a better friend than I was last week?” - Cornell Thomas
What are you thinking, feeling, and what are your thoughts on hearing Cornell’s reflections?
I absolutely LOVE how he re-frames the topic of comparison to an ‘inner journey’ vs an outer game.
Also with terrifying stories of an increasing reliance on AI ‘partners’ among other random things, the opportunity to reclaim our humanity is clear.
Will we reclaim it? Remember it?
I really hope that you get as much out of this conversation as I did.
A reminder that you can reach Cornell on the following:
Website - https://cornellthomas.com/
Email - cornellthomas365@gmail.com
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cornell-thomas-36689340/
In your corner
Finally, a short note to advise that I am here if you are looking for a 1-1 Thinking Partner that can be in your corner by voice note, virtually, and in-person, I have found 5 x 60 minutes calls + unlimited voice note communication to work the best.
If you are ready to embrace the journey towards healthier masculinity and the goodness that brings, at home and at work, drop me a line at garry.turner@radicality.co.uk.
Next weeks conversation is BIG, with ex-corporate leader, activist, and all-round awesome human Hannah Litt (she/her). Here is a little something to whet your appetite.
With much love and best regards
Garry Turner
+44 7928 979358
Get full access to In The Business of Healthy Masculinity at inbusinessofhealthymasculinity.substack.com/subscribe